=o==o==o==o==o==o==o==o= A Vampire's Quest: Blood Rage "I have trained for this day... may it be fruitful! I'll return as fast as I can," the scruffy looking young man called. He was between 15 and 23 summers... it was hard to tell. He was at once tall, experienced, but yet far too youthful. The air about him seemed new and freshly created as he waved to his Lady Baroness. The one who'd raised him better than a mother could. "I wish you didn't have to go!" she called after him. He smiled and waved again. She smiled back, but there was something in her eye... her manner that spoke volumes for how worried she was. Even the rose's she tied her hair up with seemed to droop to mirror their mistress. Even her hair seemed to have lost it's sheen. But off on his horse the young man rode, too far to notice facial details. The shopkeeper put his hand on her shoulder,"You've done a fine job. He'll be safe. He'll be just fine. If you worry too much you'll get wrinkles, Misha," The grizzled old man chuckled without the slightest hint of an old man's wheeze. She whirled giggling,"Have I Baldur? Have I truly? Or are you just flirting with me you old beast?" she said waggling a finger at him. He grinned for a brief moment before turning serious,"I would never presume to be his father," she looked ready to die,"Now now... let me finish. Ahem. I would never presume to be his father because he already has the best mother in the world... I would only get in the way." "You are flirting aren't you?" "Misha you embarrass me," he pulled a soft smile,"You are what every child could possibly want in a parent... without being the parent... even if you actually almost are." She smirked at him,"My boy is the genius... what's this mean?" Baldur smirked,"You slept through my poetry reading last week?" "The words lulled me to sleep..." "Yes yes well... anyway... you are the best almost mother in France... if not the world," he grinned matter of factly. "Is that good or bad? I've had Children... but never a child." He groaned,"You've beaten out whole families. Blood families. Loving Blood Families." "But I didn't... give birth to him," she seamlessly corrected when a traveler stepped under the awning appraising a short sword to replace his obviously missing one. "Shouldn't that be the only bond?" "There are other ties... the heart is a strong one... he loves you... and now he's off to seek his fortune. To make you proud of him." "I worry he'll die without knowing... without knowing I'm not his mother." "If you didn't love him like I know you do you wouldn't have these feelings." The traveler broke in,"My short sword from the town up the river from here broke on the first hit! Can you believe that? How much for this one?" "That's the 4th complaint about Titus that I've heard! He's dishonoring the blacksmith trade! I should give him a piece of my mind!" She smiled,"Have you much to spare?" The boy spoke again,"You see I have to make money and I can't afford to lose too much on a new sword... I have to get my girlfriend away from her family... she wants to adventure with me... but her parents would never consent to it... so while I need the sword... I need my money too," he started digging in his pockets,"I have 3." "For the sword that's a little light..." "But this is only a short sword." "Lad take that around back to the boulder out there and take a whack before you discount the price I ask for my quality," he growled. The young man startled by the sudden gruff manner did as he was told. Misha examined the display,"How good is your work?" "It's tested on that boulder before I put it ON the display." Misha boggled,"That strong? That sharp? Shouldn't you be charging 7 8 or even 20 then?" "Crafting steel is so easy for me I feel it's theft to charge 4. Besides if the boy wants to sell it later he'll make more than that easy. He could have died because of Titus... I couldn't conscience that. My conscience can't hold another life on it." "None of ours can Baldur." Suddenly the lad ran in,"This is the best craftsmanship I've ever SEEN!" Baldur wiped the tear in his eye away,"For that compliment, 4 it is. Can you get one more coin?" "You are favored with kindness and generosity, Lord Craftsman. I'll be back straight away!" He moved to pay the shopkeeper what he had now. Baldur waved him off,"Why kind sir?" "You haven't all of it so... can't pay me till then. It wouldn't be just. Now off with thee! I want my 4 gold for the sword you will be borrowing until then." "Um... hang onto my pack then... I'll be back! Nothing will stand in my way!" Misha chuckled,"Does he intend to run the entire 30 miles?" "He'll be back by nightfall if that's the case... and he will know adventure in spades by then. I'd not be surprised if he gave up adventuring after travel at twilight," he looked out where he saw the lad stepping up onto a wagon,"Ah he'll be back right ways quick that way... I'd better tell the banker to have his safe dug out for my deposit. That wagoneer is a demon of the road I swear." LATER Misha's Ward hooted and hollered as he rode like the wind down the road,"This is it Gabriel! You'll make enough money adventuring that Mother will never have a care in the world save what to do with it all!" He rode at a good clip. 10 Full Miles per hour faster than any other horse. His horse had always been gifted with speed and he intended to make it to Paris with time to spare. "The Path to attain the Order's ranks is fraught with peril and that peril will surely bring me wealth like it has so often brought wealth to other Knights!" He danced around swinging the sword Baldur made for him this way and that,"And even if it brings me nothing the lands prescribed to Knights are enough to make up for a lack of a fortune. Yes some even have made their fortunes from their de facto lands! Mother will have plenty to be proud of me either way!" Money or land... either way he knew he'd be wealthy enough to take perfect care of his mother long before her declining years ever set in. And she could spend her own fortunes on whatever she wished for he would cover everything else. He heard to gong behind him and pulled over to the side of the road. He knew what Pericle was like when he had a fare. Gabriel let the horses catch up to him and then galloped alongside Pericle,"Where are you headed today, Taxier?" "Round trip to !" Pericle looked over at him,"If you wish to talk hop on... if not ye be distracting me Master Gabriel." Gabriel deciding his horse could use a rest leapt to the cart side and into the side seat. "Who's the fare?" "Talk to him yourself... I'm driving these beasts." "Talkative as ever Perry," said Gabriel as he spun into the cabin. He had his sword out and blocking only just in time. He smiled at his cabinmate,"I'm Gabriel. Gabriel Ramirez." "My girlfriend has mentioned your name... Wait you're the guy who raced that Chariot last year! I knew I'd heard your name before!" Gabriel smiled,"Yep that was me. My horse had sprained its ankle the night before or we'd have run faster." "Wow... oh I totally forgot..." he put away his short sword, and Gabriel put away his. "Um I'm Darrick... no last name... pleased to meet you." "Why'd you hire Perry?" "Perry?" "Pericle." "I owe Lord Craftsman Baldur for the sword... I'm think I'm also going to get my girlfriend from our town. Then we'll find fortune and glory together! No need for her to wait for me to gain a fortune and rescue her later." "Rescue? Is she endangered?" "Might as well be. Her parents... they oppose her at every step. She's convinced she's in Hell." "Too bad she's not my sister... she'd never know such blockades to advancement. My mother equipped me, and wished me speed to Paris. Well she's not my mother but that's irrelevant." "Why" "To become a Knight of the Order of the Templar." Darrick was about to speak when the gong sounded, and so he peeked out the window,"By the Teeth of Lord Ignatious! A Knight of the Order!" "You should not speak that name..." Gabriel said as he looked out the window also. The wagon had stopped, and Pericle was livid,"Now see here sir Knight. I have Royal Right of passage on this road for saving the Just King's Son 3 years this fall... and you're walking your horse right down the middle of the road. Did you not hear the gong?" "I heard it Taximan." "Then stand away." "You dare command a Knight!" "When with fare I have the Right to command the King's pavilion to the side of the road!" The Knight made a haughty noise,"This I doubt. But I will take the other lane, Taximan. But do not cross me again. Writ or no writ I'll gut you like a fish." Gabriel and Darrick had climbed onto the wagon roof by this point, and they drew sword and saluted the Templar as he passed. He turned his head and spurred his horse... only to haul back hard on the reigns and stare at the pair perched on the wagon. Gabriel blinked as he realized the Knight was staring at him. "Is there something wrong Lord Knight?" he asked smiling at why the Templar would regard him with such a humorous expression. The Knight turned and road off. Gabriel still puzzled sheathed his blade. "Darrick... is there something odd about my smile?" "Perhaps he found it odd that a man out here in 'the uncultured pastures of the masses' has perfect shining white teeth?" "That must be it," and with Gabriel's words the wagon thundered forward. Pericle was cursing like a fisherman outside but the boys could barely hear him. AT Darrick went to the village well and moved a stone. A small bag was in a hole,"Normally I only deposit to it at night so no one knows... but I think I'll take it with me. Else how will I eat?" Derrick said as he put the pouch away. "Darrick!" called a voice from a house window. "Gen!" Darrick answered, and a girl a full head taller than Darrick fought with two people to get out of the house. "Let go of me Uncle!" The Uncle spoke harshly,"You will call me father! We raised you since your parents were killed and that makes US your parents... and you will give us that respect!" "You let me do nothing and talk down to me. You haven't earned me respect!" and with that she shouldered through them. "Molligen you will come back here!" "So Darrick you're back so soon? Have you made a name for yourself and your family already?" The Tall girl asked tickling Darrick. "I came for you." "But my family..." "There's no way they will stop me. I'll go to the headsman first before I give up on you." Gabriel spoke then,"He speaks truth, Molligen." She replied with,"Really? Great! Oh and my name is Gen not Molligen... that's only what THEY call me." "As you wish, Gen. I am Gabriel Ramirez." "I greet you Gabriel. Good to see you're horse's ankle has healed. I saw your race. Would you have gone faster without the trouble?" "We can outstrip other horses. We were slow that day." "Your parents must be proud of you." "I have only a mother... thought don't tell her I think of her thusly... I think she fears some kind of scandal will descend or some such... but she's been more than 3 mothers could be to me. She was delighted. Her smile almost outweighed the Honor of being the winner. Now I quest to Paris to meet a Temple Knight. I hope their order accepts me... I've talked to many already with no success." "Wish mine were proud of me," she paused to glare which started them marching out of the house,"So will my love and myself be joining you on this quest?" "I may be passed up..." "Your soul is too strong to be stopped. You'll prevail. If not this year than the next. You may well be honored." Darrick smiled,"She's never wrong. You'll have to accept sucess," he turned to her,"But you shouldn't invite us along with him like that." "I foresee us traveling together... under a dark cloud... why the cloud I wonder?" Of course the glares of her parents caused her to lose her train of thought. Gabriel shrugged,"We are all adventuring, and there is strength in numbers. I would be honored." "Molligen you will do no such thing! We will NOT consent!!" Gabriel turned to them. He had never felt true anger like he felt now. "Her life leads from this place. If you are lucky she will return and care for you in your declining years as you have not for her now. Be thankful that she did not leave in the night as I would have had YOU foul people raised me. Let's ride back to my township. They sicken me." The Aunt stepped back,"That fierce stance... tell me boy... who is your father?!" Gabriel sneered at her,"I had no need of one." The Uncle now seeing whatever it was the Aunt was seeing,"And your mother? Is her name Calia? My brother's wife was named Calia." Gabriel stepped back as the man tried to grab his leather armored sleeve,"I don't know who you are talking about. I come from the township 30 miles from here, where I am the beloved ward of the Baroness." "That township was nearly burned to the ground when we took in Molligen," The Uncle said,"We'd only been watching her while Calia was expecting. We never thought she'd take root." The Aunt spoke then,"You have Calia's eyes... I'd know my step-sister's eyes in a crowd." Gabriel rolled those eyes,"I have no such thing. I don't know this Calia. You have me mistaken. "Molligen stand next to him." That got a glare,"Please... as your Aunt it's the only thing I ask. We'll even equip you so you can be on your way... just do this one last thing." Gen crossed her arms,"Even if we look alike somehow it proives nothing. I was adopted as you well know." The Aunt nodded,"That's all I want to know. I don't expect him to be your brother. I wouldn't wish you on his family tree. But there is an innocence I've only seen in Calia and those she has midwifed into the world. You even have it .... Gen." Upon hearing the name she preferred she shrugged at Gabriel and stood near him. Gabriel rolled his eyes and stood still. He didn't believe a word of this... but if this would let them get on their way so be it. The Middle Aged woman cast her gaze over them,"You have both been near her. I am appeased. I do not know if you are her son, but if Darrick is taking one burden from us... perhaps you could take the other?" He was intrigued, and far happier now that they weren't as evil seeming,"What is it?" The Aunt bustled off to the house and came back with a travelers's pack as the Uncle went to the town blacksmith. "This was Calia's. As we are not blood... or truly well loved by her spirit, we cannot open it. If you could take it... perhaps you'll meet her half brother. We beg you to take it. And to him if you can. You will probably also meet him one day as he is a Knight. The kindest gentlest Knight of all it's said." "I will accept." The Uncle came then with a Horse loaded with equipment,"To make sure you all are well off and to speed you to glory I outfitted Darrick as well ... Gen. Be well. Pericle called to them,"OY! I don't wait nor cheap!!" Gabriel chuckled,"Perry will be Perry! I'll hitch the horses to the back of the wagon." Gen turned to Darrick,"Will you not say hi to your parents?" "They said for me not to... they don't want to miss me all the more. I will see them when I have a fortune and am coming to tell them they have a new daughter." AND WITH THAT THEY WERE OFF Some time of travel later, Pericle yelled for them to look out the window... the seasonal bonfire had started early this year. Gabriel called back,"It wouldn't happen! It's never early," and then he saw the mansion ablaze... and most of the township billowing black smoke to the heavens. There were no signs of anyone trying to put out the fires. His keen senses even picked up the stench of blood on the wind... something was not right at all... IN PARIS Later the group will start traveling with a Vampire Knight who they travel with out of mutual curiousity... especially after Gabriel denounces the Templar Kevin Woolworthshire before an assemblage of his peers... "Gabriel Ramirez, you are called before us. Step into the light and name yourself," calls forth the interviewing Temple Knight as others from his order arrive... some fresh from horses. Some believe that the boy surviving means he is a gift from god... others that he may have done it and will need numbers to stop. Gabriel triumphant that this many might mean he'll be accepted, magestically walks forth. Kevin sees him and immediately draws his sword and advances,"That boy is an abomination!" "You! You are the one who killed my mother and burned my town to ashes! How could you put innocents to the torch!" "She was spawn of evil she was a vampire, and her very presence contaminated the town! And you too are contaminated and I will see you dead!" "Lord Kevin... did you burn an entire town because of one evil?" calls another knight. "Do you think you know God's Will so well you can guess who he will judge and how?" asks another. "Murderer who brings steel into rites that do not allow them, what say you in your defence?" "You're all contaminated!! I will not stay here a moment longer! To the pits of Hell with all of you!" and he dashes out having to kill many unarmed Temple Knights on the way. "Gabriel Ramirez, was the baroness as he said, as his orders entailed? Was she undead?" Gabriel tears of blood in his eyes,"She was the gentlest soul I ever knew, and if you sent him to kill her. I cannot be among you." "And for being near one so tainted we cannot let you be among us, but as enough senseless death has happened we shall forget these things for it is obvious your heart is not that of one born of hell. Your Baroness may well have been wrongly accused as well," pronounced one elderly knight. A younger knight spoke as if he expected a knife in his gut,"S... Woolworthshire has spurred on hunts for evil before... in Normandy... he rumored about a woman who had a single baby daughter and no husband... he rumored that she was a practitioner of the black arts..." "Go on." "I know this because I heard second hand the rumor from a loyal man... who was puzzled a Templar would say such but not act. Weeks later it was everywhere... every deed the lady did was scrutinized... and truth be known when a small boy ran away from home it was rumored she had killed him for she knew the boy. She also dabbled in tailoring and she accidentally spilled red dye into the water... the village was convinced it was the blood of the boy after a rite. I tried to write to the Mother Church to explain... perhaps one of the farmer's scarecrows could be blamed as the evil to clear her name... obviously something had killed live stock resently and he killed my messenger... and threatened to kill the woman's baby. I tried to fight him, but he was too crafty. Soon after the villagers called for us to vanquish the vile witch and he rode out and slew her." "You care for the child now I saw." "There is no evil in the child, and I know there was no evil in the woman. Evil had come through once and stolen livestock, and chewed on others but it was not her. She was like an angel. I couldn't say anything before now... before he was seen for what he is for he could come and hurt the child. A Knight spoke,"We grieve that one of our own has swayed." Another spoke,"We grieve our fallen this day." The knight who was caring for the child,"We grieve those wrongly sent to God's side." The "head" Templar spoke then,"We grieve that you cannot be one of us Gabriel Ramirez... that you must do God's work elsewhere." Riding from Paris later the somber vampire knight spoke,"Your thougths are too dark... you should think of something else... What is the most fanciful thing you can thing of?" Gabriel thought for a moment,"A Castle beneath the waves of a lake..." "I have an idea of an order you could attempt to join. The travel would be long, and there is high chance you will not be accepted... but you will be far from this Templar who tell vampires by sight. Perhaps even able to get out of his grasp forever. They also do God's work. Something I feel you wish to do, yes?" "I have always tried to be a knight in all things... and wish to be one for true. If for no reason than to set an example so those like Kevin Woolworthshire can be seen more easily," Gabriel paused,"I will freely admit... I thought the Knight of the Temple were my last hope." "There are many orders without your knowledge. They thrive due to their anonmity. The one I take you to now is one such. I feel it is the will of God Himself that I take you to every order I know of till you are in His Service properly." A YEAR HENCE The Head spoke again,"One will come to you before the feast... he will bear himself and a gift. A Great gift... and only the gift will you be able to keep though you will want both. He will be in the company of one of your own. You will know him by his power, his conviction, and his beauty. He will bring the order to places you never dreamed it would go, and smash your greatest enemy. He shall arrive in an hour. This I have forseen." "That you are here as the head prophesized i the only reason we are speking with you now. Do you have a gift for us?" The Traveling Knight spoke for Gabriel,"He has in his possession a sword that can transfix by the meerest touch of the blade on a vampire. I have had it used on me. I can attest to it's validity. It was unpleasant."