Hi guys, Mad Jester here and I'd like to first apologize for how long it took me to produce this chapter. If anyone out there has ADHD, they understand that if one possesses ADHD, their brain doesn't always focus on what they want it to. ALso, I'd like to welcome you to the Prisons of Night arc (Tenative name). Also, I'd like to announce my new fiction, Splinter! My first try at a sci-fi fiction (and a darned good one if I say so myself). Anyway, leave a comment or a rating. Thank you all!

Abrum sat in the middle of the clearing, leaning against the panting Orthir in her fluffy form. His breath was slightly erratic, however, it was nowhere near as heavy as the guardians’ who lay sprawled around him. Around the clearing were roughly two hundred unconscious wolves in various positions. While the guardians and Abrum were dealing with the original hundred, more mad wolves arrived, increasing their burden.

Abrum mumbled to guardians

“Geez… How many hours has it been?”

There was a clamor of tired voices.

“I think only two hours… man… we are out of shape…” said Ugothir.

“Speak for yourself… I *huff* am in *huff* perfect shape!” voiced Orthir in a semi-serious voice.

“Admit it Orthir, we are out of shape… We haven’t done something like this since the Elven Magician Gandol went on a rampage.” Retorted Yula.

“That was forever ago. You’ve gotten fat since then!” quipped Bula.

“You’re the one whose fat!”

“Guys, is there really a need to fight?”

“Shut up you fatty!” said Bula and Orthir in unison.

“Oh, now it’s on!”

Abrum smiled and listened amusedly as the mighty guardians of the forest bickered like children

“No wonder we couldn’t do a thing against that crazy vampire. Because of our obesity, the madness spread.” Lothir commented semi-thoughtfully.

Now this caught Abrum’s attention. Abrum was completely ignorant of the culprit or how this madness started.

“Wait, a single person caused this madness? Can you describe the circumstances?”

As the guardians explained, Abrum’s face displayed signs of shock. Their story was nearly the exact same as the dream of the clearing Abrum had.

“The vampire caused the madness? How could you tell it was a vampire?” Abrum asked

“They have very distinctive fangs!”

“He smelled weird.”

“The eyes… THE EYES!!!”

Said Bothir, Kula, and Ugothir.

“If I remember correctly, it was said that there are 12 guardians, but there are only 11 here. What happened to the other one?” Abrum asked puzzled.

All the guardians looked down at this, none willing to speak up. Abrum realized what the silence implied and what he had blundered in upon.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” He said it a serious voice.

“The past cannot be changed, forgotten, or erased. However, the lessons learned can prepare one for a brighter future.” Said Jula thoughtfully as she looked at the sky that was streaked with orange and yellow from the rising sun.

“Looking all cool: saying that and looking up at the sky. You stole that from some famous person! Who was it?” Yula cried out telepathically while getting up.

“Maybe I’m just smarter than you are you fatty! Just accept it!” Jula said with a hint of arrogance in her voice.

“Oh yeah?!”

“YEAH!”

“Ahem. Fluffy vassals of mine? Can we get back onto the topic? Do any of you know which direction the vampire fled?” Abrum asked, abruptly silencing the fat verbal war.

The clearing was silent, verbally and telepathically in an instance as each of the fluffy vassals looked at one another.

“Before he turned us mad, we made note of where he came from.” Said Bothir

“Since most vampires need shelter to shield them from the day’s light…” said Kothir

“It is probable that he came from that direction” said Lothir.

They pointed at the direction of the rising sun, as it stained the night sky with its radiant light. Abrum nodded as he looked in that direction. There was a tall tower that looked suspiciously like the one in his dream. It towered above the dead trees, casting a looming shadow even in the face of the coming dawn.

Abrum wanted dearly to go and put down the threat that had cast a shadow over the entirety of the forest. He saw all the dead trees around him and was sure that if the threat was removed, the forest that had survived from time immemorial would return and flourish again. However, he just couldn’t bring himself to raise his body.

‘Oh wait… That’s right, I haven’t slept in… how many days has it been? Oh dear. Consciousness…Fading…’

Abrum’s head slumped forward as he drifted off.

The guardians, seeing how their Alpha fell asleep, looked at each other.

“We’ll take first watch then. The guardians in the dawn. Come on Yula and Bula.” Said Jula as she walked on her powerful legs and into the forest as Yula and Bula followed silently.

The other guardians began their metamorphisms. They decreased in mass and increased in fluffiness to put it bluntly. They gathered around and pushed their warm, furry, and fluffy bodies against him. He stopped shivering as much as the warmth of the his fluffy vassals coursed through his shirtless body. A contented smile spread across his lips and he was transported to the world of dreams.

Abrum stood in front of a large tower, the one he had seen in a past dream. The tower was still as imposing as ever, but there was a singular difference in this dream. This time, the tower had a door. It was a door made of deep, dark, sturdy oak that hung upon thick metal hinges. Abrum tugged upon the rugged handle, but the door only rattled in response, indicating the presence of a lock.

Abrum stepped back with a faint smile upon his face.

‘This is as good a time as any…’ He thought to himself as he readied himself in a draw stance. Holding the sheathe by his waist with only his palm and his thumb, he slowly wrapped his other fingers around the hilt. In a flash, he brought his right arm up with the force of 300 strength stat. The blade flashed and a silvery line of light was traced diagonally across the door. Sheathing the blade, Abrum waited to see the result of his strike, and he was not disappointed.

Where the silvery line of light had previously been, a cut opened and the door fell backward into the darkness inside the tower. Looking in, Abrum saw a staircase that ascended not into light, but into darkness. Abrum shivered a bit as he felt something unknown. Something dangerous. Something dark. Something ancient.

Abrum brushed off the foreboding premonition and climbed the stair into the darkness. He extended the blade a small portion from the sheathe, where they were still touching each other, but about 2 or 3 inches were exposed, illuminating the path ahead.

The ancient stone steps seemed to crumble as he approached the top. The darkness visibly shied away from the light coming from his blade, but he noticed that the amount of shying decreased significantly as he approached the top of the tower.

Finally he came to the landing, where a door resided, breaking the monotony of the black bricks.

Pushing the door back, he opened and leaned in to the room looking at the interesting sight that lay before him.

The circular room was about three meters in radius, but it seemed very cramped due to the presence of the rafters supporting the roof. In the very middle of the room sat a figure. Wrapped in a long black cloak, the figure sat there shivering.

The light from his blade faintly illuminated the room, casting shadows from the rafters, and, more importantly, the shivering figure in the center of the room. Abrum cautiously approached the shivering figure, keeping his katana at his hip, at the ready.

As he approached, he was able to hear the incoherent muttering of the person.

“I did nothing wrong.”

“Lies.”

“I DIDN’T”

“You left themmmmm”

Approaching the cloaked figure cautiously and extended a hand. He removed the cloak to reveal the face of the one underneath it.

It was an older man with blond, graying hair along with a thin beard. His red eyes looked so empty as he stared at the ground, shivering. Abrum looked very worried and knelt down besides the poor man.

“Excuse me, are you okay? Hello? Can you hear me?” asked Abrum while he shook the man.

The man looked up at him with those empty eyes, those eyes without any semblance of light. Those eyes then moved to look over his shoulder. Abrum looked back behind his back to see what the poor man was staring at. There was nothing but the shadows squirming in the background as his katana moved. Turning back to the man, Abrum reeled back in shock, doing a backwards somersault to land in a draw position.

The man no longer had his empty blue eyes, instead, his eyes were completely black. Not a single bit of color was visible in those eyes. He slowly opened his mouth, revealing long pointed canines.

“The brighter the light,

The darker the shadow.

Even in the night,

We shall still grow.

The species that shun the day

For their sins and their crimes

We shall keep them locked away.

They shall do their time.

We are Warden.

No one escapes.”

Abrum slashed out in a flash at the origin of the unearthly voice. The man just took the slash and rolled backwards. Standing up, Abrum noticed something behind the man. Behind him, the shadows squirmed unnaturally, as if they were alive

“We are Warden. No one escapes.” Uttered the man. The shadows peeled from the wall and came at Abrum like a wave. Slashing swiftly, he was able to stop the onslaught of darkness, but only for a moment until it flooded over him, making the whole world go black.

Abruptly, Abrum sat up, awoken from that hellish nightmare to the noon day sun.

‘Let’s get whatever that thing is.’

*Town of Hillshir*

Cala quietly walked along the path to Sefica. The noon day sun blazed over head, which put her in a really foul mood. She would have left much earlier if not for her encounter with the person who called herself Lilith.

After getting her name, Lilith had refused to speak, despite the constant attempts on Cala’s part. As she walked, she wondered why in the world such a talented individual like Lilith was doing out in Hillshir. It didn’t have anything that would attract a scythe wielder. The strongest monster that had ever been spawned in that area was a certain succubus, so it didn’t make sense that a powerful person like Lilith would be out there.

What was stranger was that Lilith had asked Cala to take her back to the capital. Cala came to the conclusion that Lilith wasn’t from the area and didn’t read into it anymore. Her response to the request was interesting:

“Sure why not? I am going back to meet my master anyway. He runs a training center in the city, so I’d be happy to.”

Cala had noted the mild reaction on the cold face of Lilith at the mention of the training center, but dismissed it.

They traveled back to the city without any incidents.