Epilogue

The soft clicks echoed through the marble flooring of the decorated hallway, the clicks coming from the shoes that a certain woman was wearing. Her body was curvy, sinfully so as the black expensive robe-like dress she wore hugged and showed almost everything while covering enough to be modest while leaving little to the imagination of the body beneath. The soft pale flesh on display showed just a hint of a tan as if to let others know the woman had been very outgoing in her youth though she barely seemed out of her late twenties.

Raven black hair spilled down from the wide-brimmed witches hat she wore and over her shoulders and the cape fluttering behind her as she walked down the hallway.

The woman would be considered every man’s wet dream and sexy as sin itself if it wasn’t for the unbridled fury in her eyes. Slightly puffy corners a clear indication she had been crying recently as she gripped the large staff in her hand hard enough to whiten her knuckles. The staff of pure elder wood, polished to almost look like glass with a spiral at it’s top that ended in a large mana stone of the purest green hue.

The students of the academy she was walking through hurried to get out of her way as she made her way to the headmaster's office. Once at the beautifully made door with a silvery nameplate attached at eye height she paused. ‘Headmaster and Archwizard Mario Hawkfield’ was masterfully engraved upon the plate and the anger boiled up in the woman as she opened the door and walked into the room.

Opposite the door in the large circular and well-furnished room was a large desk with a comfortable chair angled so the man sitting in the chair could see anyone enter his office. He could also turn around and look out the large window to enjoy the view of the city the academy was situated in.

Looking up his long silvery hair gently moved as if caught in a faint breeze as his blue eyes looked at the woman as she entered. His elegant suit with white robes draped down the shoulders as a cape moved as he stood. “Sigrun? What are you doing here?” He began to ask but stopped as a large fireball came into Sigrun’s hands and the look of fury on her face became evident.

“You told him didn’t you?!” She shrieked as the flame turned from its normal orange state to an almost pink-red hue. “You told him about Brynja being yours didn’t you?!” She screamed as she unleashed the spell at almost point-blank range at her fellow archwizard causing a huge explosion which spilled out the windows and shook the very academy.

“What are you talking about?!” Mario asked bewildered as he sat still in his chair, not a hair of his out of place while anything that wasn’t him or the chair he sat in was now a simple charred mess. “I haven’t spoken to Ragnar for almost a decade now Sigrun. What is it that’s happened?” He asked, worried annoyance on his face. While he was close to Sigrun his dislike of her husband wasn’t much of a secret.

“He’s left me and Brynju.” She said tears welling up in the corners of her eyes as her magic ran berserk around her. Sending small electric-like bolts of pure mana into the area around her as her emotions ran wild. “He got a divorce after my children came back and started asking about Robert.”

Mario flinched in his chair. “Why were they asking about that gullible idiot?” He asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“They met some necromancer called Arkhan that said that he had spoken to Robert’s soul before it was fully destroyed. He knew exactly how he died Mario and he used that to ruin my family.” Sigrun cried as her knees looked weak with how they began to shake a little.

Running his fingers through his silvery hair Mario sighed heavily. He hated how emotional Sigrun could be when it came to her children and family, in almost every other capacity she was usually calm and even a little flirty at times. With a muttered spell the area around them began to look as if time was reversed without the explosion happening.

Once everything was repaired he sent another spell to the door which then spread around the room to block any ears that might be listening. “Are you saying there is someone out there with knowledge and access to what we consider royal secrets and he’s waited twenty years to come forth?” He asked as he looked at her seriously.

It took a few long moments for Sigrun to compose herself and take a seat on one of the couches that Mario offered for her use. “According to Robert, my son, this Arkhan didn’t care much about what the information could do. He just used it to torture my family.” She said before tears welled up in her eyes again as she bit hard into her lower lip. “Like some sadistic bastard.”

Mario’s eyes showed he wasn’t as sympathetic to her blight, after everything they had done? ‘It seems time makes hypocrites of us all.’ He thought though he didn’t much care. “So we have a thread left to deal with hmm?” He said almost absent-mindedly as he looked out the newly repaired window and smiled inwardly. He had loved the feeling of sinking that sword into Robert’s back, the man had been a pain in his ass from day one.

Magically gifted but was so earnest towards Aona that he’d become a paladin and did everything to prove himself to her. Like a love-struck puppy for its owner. It had made Mario sick to see for almost three and a half years.

He’d have to send out someone to tie up this loose end but he couldn’t help but look at Sigrun and feel uneasy. Intended or not the woman had taken a rather serious blow with the breaking of her family. Whoever this Arkhan was he’d have to make sure whoever he sent would be able to deal with the problem.

‘Too bad I can’t leave and pry this Arkhan’s secrets out myself. Using the four of us as bulwarks to defend the capital, that damnable queen bitch.’

Morice was speechless as he heard what Vlad was doing. It was the day before their departure and Vlad had taken both himself and Akasha to the graveyard near the forest outside of Bedelev on a hill that if the light was just right let one almost look over the entirety of the city.

The skeletons were coming out of the ground and looked almost like a band tuning up their instruments. One using two thigh bones to see if it could play the several ribcages like a xylophone or something. Then it began as they began to play gently and started to dance around. It seemed an almost happy yet haunting tune at the same time to him.

“Spooky scary skeletons~ send shivers down your spine.~♪” They began and then Vlad made one skull pop up close to Akasha’s feet and continue. “Shrieking skulls will shock your souls, seal your doom tonight!” And then it went on to be quite the morbid yet fascinating show as they began to grow a bit more upbeat and almost… swinging should be the right word.

Soon Vlad and Akasha were laughing as he twirled her in his arms as they danced with the singing skeletons. Morice simply watched on with a confused expression before a skeleton that acted like it had the most beautiful curves imaginable walked up to him and asked him for a dance. The sway of its hips a rather morbid sight but Morice looked over to Vlad who was looking at him with that shit-eating grin of his and Morcie decided to just go with it and the three danced in the midst of skeletons.

The people of Bedelev on the other hand terrified as the melody came to them with the undercurrent of a laughing child and the small lights that could be seen at the graveyard even left the guard unwilling to check it out in the middle of the night. Instead, the cities security was tightened so considerably that only by using the catacombs had the three responsible been able to make it back to their inn.

“Knight commander!” A stocky young man ran up to a broad-shouldered and barrel-chested man standing before a line of knights in their training gear. The man turned and looked at the young man, his dark red hair already had a bit of grey at the sides of his head. His eyes were a grey-blue with a piercing quality that made the younger man swallow just a little.

“Well?” Knight commander Theodore Dunleavy almost barked at the young officer who handed over a letter with the Dunleavy family crest on the wax seal. The crest was one of a large shield with the heads of a falcon and horse mirroring one another and looking out the different sides.

With a wave to the line of knights to continue their training he left the training field to his own office. A spartan furnishing as a mirror to the man’s own personality. He sat down and with a swift snip with a letter knife he opened the letter and began to read.

It was a message from his younger brother Olivier from Bedelev reporting on the cities situation as well as recent events. Much of it caused Theodore to raise his eyebrows but his teeth became gritted almost to the point of letting out sounds of the strain they were under when he read the last part.

‘I suspect that a man named Felix Aesir might have a connection to Vlad Von Carstein who we suspect murdered Elliot. In his company is his son and daughter, I’ve yet to find out their names as I don’t have your extensive information gathering skills. What I can say is that I suspect that Felix’s daughter is a Snó and Dökk Alfar hybrid.

If anything else I say you have to ascertain if this man’s daughter is usable in your plans for your sons. I know this is simply me preaching to my older brother but be wary of this Felix, something about him unnerves me. I think you can expect him to arrive within ten day’s in Veta so if you wish to question him make your preparations.’

With the last being his brother wishing him the best Theodore looked at the three drawn pictures of Felix and his two children. The Knight commander started at Felix’s picture and committed the likeness to memory before his grasp crumpled the letter.

He would find his sons killer and bring him to justice, he’d already dealt with that nuisance of a doctor. The fact the man had been a necromancer that had managed to act for so long without being caught had sent shivers down his spine. He was glad he was executed and his body purified in fire. To think that man had been near his youngest son for so long that he felt Elliot’s death had simply been inevitable.

Despite little love having been between Theodore and Elliot, the boy had been his son and so vengeance wasn’t just necessary but his duty as well. “Servant! Get my sons, Andrew, Robert and Alexander!” He bellowed out in his gruff and deep voice.

He looked down at the map of Veta and the surrounding terrain with Bedelev just at the very edge of the map. He would get answers, no matter the cost.

Book one end.

Status screen:

Name: Vlad von Carstein

Classes: Death squire (lvl. 17), Necromancer (lvl. 12), Shadowmancer (lvl. 12), Vampire Baron (lvl. 5)

Race: Dökk Álfar (High Halfblood)

Statistics:

Strength: 47 Agility: 56 Vitality 45 Endurance: 45 Intelligence: 38 Perception: 38

Innate abilities:

Enhanced Vampiric Senses lvl. 1: (Capable of turning one’s vision to see the world around oneself normally even in pitch darkness or be capable of seeing in black and white while the blood vessels of those around the user are visible. Both effects reach up to 60 meters. Other senses are sharper and clearer enhanced by a factor of almost 50 times base race’s standard.)

Moderate Vampiric regeneration lvl. 1: (Decreases the time needed to regenerate a limb by a week and can be empowered by imbibing the blood of others.)

Blood Defilers Claws lvl. 1: (The body of the user has begun the change to the perfection of the vampiric form. All-natural weapons gain the ability to consume blood to increase regeneration or even strengthen the user's body for a short time with the blood gained this way..)

The Liches gift lvl. 1: (Currently deep steel ring chosen as a temporary phylactery. User now has greater control over death magic and his own mana.)

Defensive Carapace lvl. 2: (Able to cause a carapace to grow around the user's body and limbs. Gives as much armour as a gambeson with chain-mail over it currently.)

High vampiric Physiology lvl. 1: (Physical stats increase by three for every single point spent to increase. All mental stats gain a single point every time a physical stat has gone up by ten! Vampiric skills are easier to learn and a new set of classes have been unlocked for user to gain by his own actions.)

Class abilities:

Death Squire:

Advanced Death’s tug lvl. 10, Proficient Ethereal Armour lvl. 10, Proficient Wraith step lvl. 10, Advanced Bone weapon lvl. 10,

Necromancer:

Advanced Death sense lvl. 10, Advanced raise minor skeleton lvl. 10, Advanced Raise minor specter lvl. 10, Basic Raise Skeleton lvl. 10, Basic raise spectral skeleton lvl. 10, Basic Bone Crafting lvl. 10, Basic Soul Crafting lvl. 10, Basic Possession lvl. 10, Basic Soul manipulation lvl. 10, Basic Minor Undead creation lvl. 10, Basic soul absorption: lvl. 10, Basic Bone control: lvl. 2,

Shadowmancer:

Advanced shadow strike lvl. 10, Advanced shadow bolt lvl. 10, Advanced Shadow meld lvl. 10, Proficient Shadow infusion lvl. 10, Basic Shadow Materialization lvl. 10, Basic Shadow mending lvl. 10, Basic Shadow manipulation lvl. 10, Basic Shadow hold lvl. 1,

Vampire Baron:

Basic Aura of Dark Majesty lvl. 1 (Passive), Basic Beguiling gaze lvl. 1, Basic Vampiric Conversion lvl. 1, Basic Mortal disguise lvl. 1,

Basic abilities: Low > Medium > High > Superior > Distinguished

Medium Analysis lvl. 2, low Mana manipulation lvl. 8, Basic Mana materialization lvl. 3, Basic Soul stone creation lvl. 3, Basic mana stone creation lvl. 2, Basic spell casting lvl. 4, Basic physical mana empowerment lvl. 2

Skills: Basic > Advanced > Proficient > Expert > Master > Pinnacle

Combat skills:

Basic improvised weaponry lvl. 2, Advanced Intimidating growl lvl. 1, Advanced Power strike lvl. 3, Basic One-handed axe lvl. 5, Basic Dual-wielding lvl. 4,

Defensive skills:

Proficient Evasion lvl. 1 (Passive), Advanced Parrying lvl. 2, Advanced Shield use lvl. 1, Advanced Toughened skin lvl. 2 (passive),

Utility skills:

Advanced Stealth lvl. 1, Advanced Improved Reflexes Lvl. 4 (Passive), Advanced Improved Stamina lvl. 6 (Passive), Basic Tracking lvl. 4,

Unspent stat points: 0 Unspent skill points: -3 Unspent ability points: 0

Status Management Unlocked.

Secondary status screens unlocked: Minion Management, Martial management, Equipment, Inventory, Spell book, design management, Bloodline status.