Open Chronicles What Remains

[Heike Eisen]

Heike Eisen ran down a street in the City of Shadokien. Stumbled and recovered and kept running. She clutched with the palm of one hand the severe burn wound on her stomach and steadied herself along the endless wall of interconnected houses and shops with her other hand, claws faintly scratching along the wood and plaster and stone. An agonized groan escaped her throat, forcing its way out on the sheer authority of the pain radiating through her body from her abdomen. She was already weak through blood deprivation, and the burn made it even worse.

Behind her, a small group of men and women pursued, running fiercely after her. They all had torches in their left hands and weapons in their right--and the torches weren't necessarily meant for light, Shadokien itself a well-lit city even after the sun fell. Only one among them was a guard of the city, the rest citizens of an impromptu night watch.

For a vampire was stalking the city. A monster. A creature that Heike intended to hunt and kill.

Heike had come to Shadokien immediately upon hearing of this in a neighboring town. Slipped into the city and kept to herself as she usually did. Found it more difficult than it usually was to stay unseen at night, given all of the firelight and magical illumination from all of the windows of the various buildings. Pockets of shadow and darkness existed here and there, rare and welcome sights for her; Shadokien was such a remarkable anomaly in this regard, and Heike wondered through her days spent hunting here if this was an expression of some aspect of their culture, to be bathed in light no matter the time of day.

Regardless, with her hood and mask up and her claws concealed by her lowered shawl, Heike hadn't drawn unwanted attention (until tonight). She surreptitiously patrolled the streets at night, looking--essentially--for her counterpart, for someone doing more or less the same, save only for a different and more abhorrent purpose. And Heike felt the pressure of time bearing down on her, for this vampire did not feed to merely satiate its thirst.

This one killed its victims. Not one was left alive.

The populace had become restless. The guard force of the city was doing everything it could, but it was not enough. Many citizens took it upon themselves to help patrol the streets at night, and Heike found it increasingly difficult move about the city once the strangulation of security choked the streets. It was good--perhaps they would find and kill the vampire themselves--but Heike knew that her own well-being was endangered by it.

So be it, she had resolved. Anything, so long as the other vampire here in the city was slain. Heike herself steadfastly refused to feed from any of the townsfolk during this hunt; even as the scratching in her throat worsened, even as mild fatigue began to seep into her muscles. It would not do well to fight another vampire in this manner, but with the amount of increased security she did not need to herself. Raise the alarm, set the guards and watchmen on the outed vampire, and slip away. As much as Heike wanted to kill the vampire with her own hands, what truly mattered was the fiend's death, not who wielded the figurative executioner's sword.

But it didn't work out that way. Heike had been the one who was found out.

The night watchmen of Shadokien had gotten clever. There were many who patrolled the streets regularly, but now--it turned out--there were some who waited in "ambush." Waited inside buildings and around corners unseen. They popped out whenever they suspected someone walking about in the night and briefly interrogated them. And Heike had been caught in one such ambush. The door to a shop swung open soon after she had passed by, the same group chasing her now came out, and they questioned her. And Heike, bound by Oath to tell the truth, could not lie: when asked "That mask seems like something a vampire would wear, traveler. Are you a vampire?" she was compelled by her honor to reply, "Yes."

None among the group of night watchmen expected such an answer; the question was even asked in a somewhat jovial manner, in spite of the seriousness of the situation in Shadokien.

But one had the presence of mind to thrust his torch at Heike. Caught her directly in the stomach, and the shattering pain of the burn nearly dropped her right then and there. A smack of the torch away from herself, a panicked patting of the flames licking at her shirt and shawl and the edges of her coat, and the chase began.

"SHE'S OVER HERE!" one of the pursuers behind Heike shouted.

He was yelling. To someone. Heike looked. Yes, up ahead on the street, a guard and two other night watchmen. Their backs were turned, but after hearing one of their comrades, they wheeled about and saw Heike and started closing in. The streets of Shadokien in general were wide, but they spread out effectively.

The group coming behind. These three coming from the front.

Heike's hand that had been trailing along the wall of buildings touched glass. The glass of the window of a shop, in which where bottles of ink and quills and rolls of various types of paper and parchment on display by the light of candles. Shadokien frustratingly had precious few alleys, so this was her only option. Get in, then either go for the back door or go up the stairs of the multi-floor building and try for the roof.

Heike clenched her teeth and backed up from the window and got a running start and jumped and rammed her shoulder through the glass, failing to land on her feet and rolling to a stop inside the shop amidst the clamor and shattered pieces.

 

[Ye'svonne Airileth]

The City of Shadokien. An alchemists and a mages haven. Some may argue that Elbion would be that place but the snootiness of Elbion drove most away from it. Ye'svonne hadn't spent much time in either as most of his product was found in the while. His ability as an herbalist made everywhere his storehouse. The night was heavy but the lights and colors of the city made for an easy stroll. He needed to find an inn as his journey here landed him in the walls too late for any purchasing, but tomorrow was a new day!

As he wandered through the streets there seemed to be disquiet everywhere. People were nervous about something going wrong. Ye'svonne started to pick up his pace and made his way to the inn. As he entered and waved down the innkeeper he heard voices speaking.

"They found her, ya know. We can rest a bit easier now knowing she's being pursued."

"Where'd ya hear that?"

"From one of the Chosen. They can't lie to us, ya know! Least corrupt guard in all of the Allir Reach if ya ask me."

Ye'svonne ordered his room and then ordered some food before he headed to bed. He thought about what might be happening here as it was clearly the talk of the town. He didn't even notice the masked man a table behind him whose yellow eyes peered down Ye'svonne's spine.

 

[Heike Eisen]

Go. Go.

Heike planted her hands on the ground, glass crunching quietly beneath her palms and beneath her feet once she stood. Every small motion of her abdomen sent bursts of pain sparking down her legs and through her arms. Her affliction had dulled most forms of pain, but burns from fire or light--magic or no--penetrated through this undead dulling and bit into her with all the ferocity of her former life and the full, unblunted sensation.

The shopkeeper, who had been attending to his ledger, backed up against the wall behind the counter, unaware that he had knocked a few bottles of ink from the shelf with his elbow as he raised up his hands and terror streaked across his expression. He said, "Don't hurt me. Don't hurt me."

Heike stumbled slowly toward the open door likewise behind the counter. Said as she did, "Is there a backdoor through here?"

"Wh-What?"

She reiterated more forcefully, "A backdoor. Is there one? Yes or no."

(Outside: "THROUGH THAT WINDOW!", "Around! Around! I'm going around!", "Make sure she doesn't get away!")

"Y-yes, yes, yes. There's one. A backdoor." The shopkeeper seemed to be trying to melt through the wall and the shelf behind him, so pressed up against it was he.

Heike trusted him, forgoing running up the stairs in the main shop room and going through the door. A storeroom/work area. A woman--the shopkeeper's wife--and two children there, the youngest of them giving a shriek as Heike hurried in and the child rushed to his mother. Their eyes, their looks. Fear foremost, but anger and revulsion as well. A fresh wound to Heike's spirit, not as immediately painful as the burn on her body but one that could not be so easily healed.

Heike threw open the subsequent door in the storeroom. A hallway filled with doors, stretching to her left and right, connecting all of the tightly-packed buildings on this street in Shadokien; in a different city it would have been an alley. Here, the buildings more often became one single construction.

So many choices. Best to go with the simplest one and not waste time.

Heike tried the door directly in front of her, across the hall from the storeroom she'd just left. Surprisingly, it was unlocked. She pushed it open and inside were three craftsmen all sat down around a table having dinner, their aprons stained with various clays and paints. They viewed her with apprehension, murmured, one saying audibly, "What in the hell?" before she rushed across their kitchen and dining room and through another open door. Into their larger shop front. Out through the front door and back onto the streets of Shadokien, this one now running parallel to the one before and on the opposite side of the block of buildings she'd exited.

"Vampire bitch!" said someone immediately to her left.

Heike had only a second to look before a torch hit her in the side of the face. She let out a sharp shriek as the flame burned her cheek and her ear and her temple and singed her hair, and she fell down onto her side as her legs momentarily gave out from the afflicted agony. The contact had been brief, but it was enough to darken and outright blacken her otherwise pale flesh.

No, no, no!

Heike started squirming back on the hard stone of the street. The man--wielding the torch and a dagger and wearing an eyepatch--stalked closer. Got around her legs and thrust the torch down at her. She swung her left hand and smacked the torch out of his grip and it went rolling across the street and came perilously close to the wood of the shop she'd just left. Eyepatch didn't relent: he immediately held the dagger in both hands and dove down. Heike, her left arm out of position from smacking the torch away, was wide open.

The dagger plunged into her left breast and scraped against the hardened bone of her ribcage.

And she cried out.

Ye'svonne Airileth

 

[Ye'svonne Airileth]

The scream pierced through the heavens themselves. Everyone in the inn turned at its sound, not excluding Ye'svonne, who stood up with fright at its volume. A woman. In danger. We all know how this played in Ye'svonne's head. No matter the plight, no matter the person. No matter the face, no matter their race.

He was an indiscriminate savior and it was burned in his mind that way.

Ye'svonne left his meal unfinished as he bolted through the doors of the inn into the streets. Unaware of what followed close behind him. The Shadokien streets that echoed of green and violet resonated with the flames of torches that demanded a colorful vengeance. The whole city seemed to roar towards the destruction of whoever it chased. Here, of all places? What in the blazes was happening?

It was not hard for the alchemist to find the scene. Flickers of orange and red left a trail of fury for him to follow with trepidation in his heart. The mob seemed to slow as they had reached at least close to their goal. As he turned the corner he saw her. A familiar face. A familiar race.

"Heike?" The lizards voice was terrified. Though maybe not so much a friend, Heike was a patient of his. She was a vampire but one who did not display any signs of threat to anyone. He knew this first hand upon their meeting in the midst of nowhere. His heart pounded in his ears and knew that the city would not listen. Swept up by their xenophobia and possibly prior encounters with much more malicious vampires would blind them from her truth.

Ye'svonne panicked. He couldn't watch her die. No. He just couldn't. But would he be killed if he tried to prevent her capture? His mind began to reel in pain as he thought of every possible outcome. There was so much at stake for both decisions.

Suddenly, he remembered something. A quote. One he treasured and that led him to his decision making in these type of crises.

"The head may err, but never the blood."​

Yes. Yes! Forget the tricks your own mind may play on you and remember who the hell you are, what the hell you stand for!

Heike was not a monster.

He removed his sack and placed it upon the ground and began concocting. He had to move fast. The voices had already began.

"You, leech, who terrorize our town." One of Shadokien's Chosen spoke.
Sawdust. Shavings of opal. Binding liquid.

"As we have found you here, so shall be your grave."

Scale of komodo. Cockatiel plume. Saliva.

"May your next life show you more mercy."

The tincture turned violet-gray, and Ye'svonne screamed;

"LIVE, HEIKE!"
​

He threw it with all his might. The bottle hit the ground beside all the mob, and shadows crawled upon the walls in the shape of vile beasts. The illusions barked horrible noises at the mob, who then reeled in terror. Ye'svonne sighed a sigh of relief. He'd done it.

And that was when a hand gripped his mouth closed, and dragged him into the darkness.

 

[Heike Eisen]

Heike started breathing. A response of heightened emotions, of panic in this case, as her body made an unconscious recalling of that old involuntary effort that had been rendered unnecessary by her affliction; it was akin a woman risen from the dead, returning to her burned down home to sweep the floor. An act made tragic by the death of its significance.

Eyepatch ripped the dagger out of her chest, seeing that it wasn't penetrating the bone. He plunged it down again--toward her neck and face--and Heike managed to grab hold of his arms and stop him. He leaned in, putting more and more of his weight down into the diving blade.

"I don't want to hurt you," Heike said, quickly. "I don't want to hurt you. I'm not the one you're looking for."

"Spare me," Eyepatch said. "Your latest kill. His name was Carlin. And he was a friend of mine. So spare me."

The quivering point of the blade touched the flesh of Heike's neck. More people, roused from the shouts of her once small group of pursuers, began to pour in from both ends of the street. A veritable mob was forming. Closing in. Citizens and night watchmen and guards and curious onlookers in the early night.

Thoughts raced through Heike's mind. Desperate thoughts. Just as it had been in the Monster Hunter Fortress, she didn't want to hurt anyone here--and killing them was beyond consideration. These were the people she endeavored to protect. She had not sworn so in particular but she had in general, for they were not the guilty, not the wicked. Yet they were going to kill her, and this impulse was undeniably righteous; she could not fault them for it, and--in fact--lauded them for their bravery in standing up to the abhorrent fiends of the night, the vampires of Arethil.

You, leech, who terrorize our town.

As we have found you here, so shall be your grave.

They were getting closer. The point of the dagger held only just at bay was starting to slip cleanly into her neck, like a nail slowly being driven into her skin.

She had to act. She had to do something. She was hesitant to cause the man harm--any harm--but if she did not? If she was slain here, when she could have lived and helped to successfully out the other vampire in Shadokien? If she died and the vampire went on to kill even one more person, when perhaps it could have been prevented through her efforts if only she had fought to survive? She had to. Heike felt pulled in two opposing directions by her Oath of Justice, pulled between not harming a single innocent person and the defense of Shadokien as a whole from the vampire, but...one had more force behind it than the other.

LIVE, HEIKE!

Heike couldn't look toward the voice, yet many of the mob and even Eyepatch did. Was that...Ye'svonne? The lizardman who had helped her after that terrible encounter with the Abomination? He did have a very distinctive voice. And...whoever it was knew her. It stood to reason.

Shadows of horrific creatures skittered across the walls of the block of interconnected buildings, and momentary terror blunted the mob's aggression. Heike had her chance, now that Eyepatch was similarly distracted. She clenched her teeth wrenched her clawed hands to one side and rolled her body, tossing Eyepatch off of her; it was no amazing feat of strength, and he landed on his back right beside her. The dagger had nicked her neck a little more as it left her flesh, and blood oozed lazily from the small wound.

Heike scrambled to her feet. Eyepatch grabbed for her ankles, but she managed to shake him off. She started to filter through the panicked mob, knowing that those who were not so horrified of the dancing shadows would be after her.

Her stomach simmered with pain and she clutched the wound on her chest and maneuvered her way through the pocket of chaos in the street. Cognizant and focused shouts were behind her.

And Heike gave a shout of her own as she hobbled along and pushed someone from her path, "Ye'svonne! Where are you?"

Ye'svonne Airileth

 

[Ye'svonne Airileth]

The last bit of light that shown to him was that he was successful. An unfair death avoided. Meaning he had continued to uphold his oath of altruism. What came next was something he didn't know what to do about. He even heard Heike speak and couldn't respond as he'd been gagged as someone carried him away.
Ye'svonne's neck and mouth covered by the assailant from the shadows. He'd made one mistake though.

The attacker had clearly assessed that Ye'svonne wasn't very physically strong, otherwise this wouldn't have happened. But, he'd failed to correctly look at all of Ye'svonne's inventory. The dagger that had been given to him by Silver still lay hidden in his tunic. Without hesitation the lizard withdrew it, and stabbed backwards into his attackers stomach. The man behind him let out a blood curdling hiss as he fell back in pain. Ye'svonne flipped around to face him and the first thing he saw was fangs flashing in tidbits of moonlight in the mans mouth.

This was who the town had been talking about, not Heike. That was the only explanation that made any sense to Ye'svonne. He held the dagger steady and furrowed his brow.

"Youuuuuuu have done a lot of evil here, haven't you?"

"What dictates evil, reptile? My desire to eat makes me a monster, does it? How could you possibly know my plight?"

It wasn't true. Heike was a prime example of the lies this man spit. Though how many vampires in this world had the calm and collection that she had over their disease? The man went to a low prowl, ready to pounce despite his wounds. He could only hope that his friend would be able to find him. He did not know how much longer he could last.

 

[Heike Eisen]

The street was alive with the panicked men and the light that spilled from their torches only served to further this chaos as a haphazard menagerie of true shadows joined the illusory ones in so dancing and flickering across the stone at their feet and the walls of the surrounding buildings encasing them in this bedlam.

Heike could not blend into this crowd; she'd already been picked out by the more resilient-minded of the watchmen and guard force, a coalesced band of five men among whom the Chosen was a part and who kept their eyes on her even as she flashed in and out of their view with the scrambling passing of people coming between them and her. And they gave fervent chase. Like Heike, they pushed others from their path, their sense of dire urgency and duty imparting more force into their shoves than her own, sending some who crossed their path in their panic sprawling to the ground.

Their shouts:

"Don't lose her!"

"She's the one in the coat!"

"Out of the way! Out! OF THE WAY!"

Heike ran as fast as the pain rippling from her stomach and from the side of her face would allow, gaining what distance she could until she cleared the gaggle of the panicked mob and spilled out mostly into the open of the street. Damn! Where was Ye'svonne? Was it Ye'svonne? She could have sworn it was so: it sounded like him and he--her savior, whomever it truly was--knew her name. But where had he gone? There was a thin enshadowed alley off to her left and somewhat behind her. Too late to look. Not with her pursuers gaining ground.

And it seemed far too chancy to try and outrun them down the open flat of the street, same as it was before. So her plan also remained the same: lose them.

To her left (same as it had been with the rare Shadokien alley) was a large tenement building: cramped city living for those with little coin and meager means. No door to the interior of the building itself, just an open archway, wherein the walls of the hallway were lined with them and stairs to the upper floors could be found.

So Heike dashed inside. Bought for herself some precious seconds upon crossing into the tenement to move unseen by her pursuers. Shake off the chase, perhaps. And then--if Ye'svonne was not actually in here himself--to check the alley. But first she had to lose them.

Ye'svonne Airileth

 

[Ye'svonne Airileth]

Ye'svonne only had his wit in this moment. He got a lucky shot in and would stand no chance in this fight. The uproar of the crowd behind was rising again. Heike was probably being given chase right now. That means there was a flood of footsteps on the street. He had to use this. Yet, would the monster follow? It's possible he would see through the ploy as he was so adamantly remaining in the shadows. It had so many risks. It had so many...

Too many thoughts. Ye'svonne stood there not acting and paid for it. The vampire lunged forward and scratched the alchemist across his chest. Ye'svonne cried out loudly as he hit the ground, now being towered over by his opponent. Never a good place to be. He knew the monster would expect the dagger again, but he had to use it. Both hands active, he swung the blade at his attacker at the same time that he lobbed a random potion high into the air.

The vampire laughed as he blocked the dagger and pinned Ye'svonne by his hands, bearing his fangs.

"I wonder, I wonder, if lizards can turn?" Ye'svonne offered a wad of spit to his face as a response. The vampire shook it off and laughed once more.

"Eager, are we?" As he leaned down to pierce through Ye'svonne's neck the flask came falling, and crashed on the vampires head in a crimson cloud. Damn. Healing potion. Luckily the crash of glass acted as enough a distraction.

Ye'svonne kicked him off and sprinted out of the alleyway, with nothing but hope.

 

[Heike Eisen]

Two choices: down the hall, or up the stairs. And Heike chose the latter. She could not spend any blood to leap from the ground floor to the second in a single bound--too bloodstarved. So instead she ascended the stairs in the manner in which--in a dreadful hurry or not--she was more accustomed.

Up one flight, taking the stairs two or three at a time. Rounding quickly and going up the next flight to the third and top floor. There had been some curious peeks through ajar doors down on the first floor of the tenement, but none up here, and Heike was glad for it. She ran down the hallway, doors to her left and glassless, open-air windows to her right. Down below would be that alley, but also the panicked hollers and bewildered shouts of the untrained mob that had come and been scattered by the shadowy illusions. Scattered, but not completely dispersed. They were likely catching on that the illusions were nothing to fear and that the object of their ire had fled, albeit slower to do so than the five of them that had given chase.

Heike came to a stop midway down the third floor hall. Listened. Hard to tell if her pursuers in whole or in part had come up the stairs. But by now they were likely off of the street and inside the building either way.

So she hopped onto the edge of a window sill and slipped off and her coat trailing high above her head as she descended and she came to land on her feet and her palms, the impact harming her hardened bones not in the slightest.

She stood. Looked one way down the alley and then the other. Saw only the back of a lone man (for she was too late to see Ye'svonne flee). Was that broken glass on the ground? Was he bleeding? More over, was this the man who had aided her?

A dozen paces of distance between them, Heike said, trying not to be too loud, "Were you the one who conjured those shadows?"

Ye'svonne Airileth

 

[Ye'svonne Airileth]

Ye'svonne was barely able to make his way through to the alleyways exit. The sounds of the city's infighting seemed so close still but even as he left he saw no one. He caught his breath though he knew he had no time to do so. It was as if fleeing from this bastard was a fruitless effort. He would be caught, it was inevitable. He at least was able to save Heike from wrongful crucifixion. That was enough for a last breath, no?

That was what he thought until he heard the conversation from behind. Heike's voice, responding to the creature in the shadows a question intended for Ye'svonne. Shit. He couldn't leave her there. She would be cornered if she fought here too long. Ye'svonne turned back, but was too late.

"HEIKE, THAT'S THE CULPRIT!" He called to her. But as he was turning to assist her, the vampire was already flipped around and lashing its talons at her.