‘Have a seat, kind sir,’ said the man to Zakariah as he was brought in by the Leeches. ‘Oh, don’t be bothered by them, they were just leaving.’

The Leeches turned around and disappeared into the darkness.

‘So, what brings you to my humble homestead?’ asked the strange man, but Zakariah remained silent.

‘Don’t feel like talking, now, do we?’ The man’s face turned grim.

‘Why am I bothered by people from the surface? What in the world are you doing here?’ said the man with a sudden low, guttural voice. ‘Speak, wretch!’ the sound of a slap in Zakariah’s face.

‘That’s it, I’m going in.’ said Tristan as he was about to draw his sword, but Rhyddion pulled him back.

‘Quiet! First we’ll have to find out what we’re dealing with. Zakariah can handle this.’

They we’re hiding just outside the entrance to the room. The darkness carefully concealed their presence.

‘Why would you care?’ asked Zakariah when the man hit him again.

‘My reasons are my own,’ replied the man with a perfectly calm voice.

‘You seem scared? Are you scared of an old man?!’ Zakariah started to laugh.

The air was suddenly pierced by a loud bang. Zakariah got back up on his feet and spat out two teeth and some blood.

‘I have no reason to be scared of you, old man.’ said the man as he wiped his knuckles on his shirt. The man was dressed in a fancy, black suit with a clear white, collared shirt underneath it. ‘Why do I have to resort to violence? Can’t we just have a normal conversation! Why can’t you just sit down on the damn chair and be civilized for ten seconds!’

‘The guy’s obviously insane, we have to act now before this gets out of hand,’ whispered Tristan as he looked at Rhyddion.

‘And get killed by those creatures? No way,’ replied the Archmage, but Rhyddion had also drawn his sword now.

‘Tristan’s right. I’ll subdue the man before he tries anything, you guys keep an eye on those Leeches, I don’t want to end up on that wall.’ Rhyddion got up and entered the room with his greatsword ready to strike.

‘What in the devil is this?! Demons? Demons?!’ cried the man in terror. Instantly he tried to jump Rhyddion, but the strong man punched him down to the ground with a quick blow of his elbow.

‘Strong, but not strong enough!’ cried the strange man as he got back up on his feet and, with unexpected strength and agility, tossed Rhyddion back through the entrance into the dark cave.

‘Kill them, kill them all!’ Tristan, Rhyddion and the others suddenly found themselves surrounded by what seemed like an army of Leeches.

‘Well, what are we waiting for? I’m not dying in here!’ said Shannon as he raised his staff. The darkness was lit by magical flames that emerged from the shard of Arcadium imbedded in Shanondarion’s staff. A piercing shriek raised from one of the burning creature’s lungs as it dropped to the ground and turned to ash. Tristan tried to hold off the frenzied Leeches with his shield, but found himself struggling on the floor while the gaping mouth and razor sharp teeth kept getting closer to his face. A flash of steel and the creature’s face was pierced by two daggers. Varius grabbed the hilts of the daggers, pulled the creature away from Tristan and, with a quick move of his arms, turned the Leech’s head until its neck snapped with a loud crack. Meanwhile, Rhyddion had his own struggles. The strange man had dragged him away from the battlefield and was now furiously lashing at Rhyddion’s face with his long, sharp fingernails. The blood poured over his devastated cheeks, but Rhyddion ignored the pain and managed to get the man off his chest with a strong kick. While he was lying on the ground, Rhyddion seized the opportunity and grabbed the man’s throat between his strong hands. He pulled the struggling man up from the ground and slammed him against the wall. Suddenly, his fury was pierced by a hellish pain as the man had buried his teeth in one of Rhyddion’s hands. Rhyddion released the man’s throat and punched him down to the ground with his free hand. The man recovered unbelievably quick, but before he could lash out at Rhyddion again, he was stopped by a huge steel sword.

‘Don’t you dare to move another damn muscle,’ said Rhyddion as the blood ran down from his face. ‘Tell your pets to back off, or I’ll cut your ugly head clean off your shoulders.’

The man seemed shocked at the image of his head rolling across the floor and sent the Leeches away. The creatures obeyed and returned to their dark tunnels.

‘And now you’re going to have to answer some questions,’ said Rhyddion as he escorted the man back to his room.

Zakariah was waiting for them inside the room. His white beard was stained with blood and his upper lip was torn, but he smiled nevertheless.

‘I knew you guys would find me!’ said the old man as he hugged Tristan. After he greeted his traveling companions, Zakariah turned to the strange man that was now sitting in the chair.

‘You cost me two teeth.’

‘You want them back?’ said the man while pointing to the two teeth lying on the ground. ‘See if you can stick ‘m back in.’

It wasn’t until now, that they noticed how strange the man looked. He was pale, very pale and had no normal, human teeth, but sharp beast-like teeth. His eyes were bloodshot red and his fingers seemed like claws. His ears were unusually pointy and his hair was long and rugged, but the strangest thing had not yet been revealed…

‘Why aren’t you breathing?’ asked Shannon. ‘Why are you looking at me like that? I just happened to notice it.’

‘There’s no need for breath when there’s no need to breathe.’

‘That’s a privilege that only dead men suffer.’

‘Well, mage, that is exactly what I am!’ laughed the pale man.

‘What in the world are you, because you’re definitely not human,’ asked Rhyddion.

‘Oh, I am human. My name is Tenebris and I am a Demon. Or at least, half Demon.’

‘Oh please! A Demon? You’re kidding right?! Right?!’ laughed Shannon. ‘I’m sorry, it’s just so ridiculous!’

‘There are no more Demons here, Tenebris, they were defeated long ago. You’re lying,’ said Rhyddion as he brought his sword closer to Tenebris’ throat.

‘Are you really that simple minded? I am not from here, wretch and get that sword out of my face.’

Rhyddion lowered his sword when he noticed that the man wasn’t planning to run off anyway.

‘Thank you, kind sir, now let me tell you where I’m from. I come from across the sea. There are more lands out there than just your Four Vales, but those lands are a lot darker than these. I used to live here, until King Ulfric, Riven’s great grandfather, sent me and my crew of adventurers out to explore the shores beyond the Four Vales.’ Tristan’s jaw dropped and Shannon looked at the man with a look of disbelief. ‘When we arrived there, we found ourselves on a pearl-white beach with a beautiful forest in the distance and so we, foolish as we were, crossed the beach and entered the forest. The farther we moved inside the dense forest, the less dense it got, until the soft forest floor made way for a cold, rocky underground and the trees had all withered away and that is where we found it…’

‘What did you find? Men? Beasts? Gods?’ asked Simon who was excited by this tale of strange world.

‘Silence, fool,’ hissed Shanondarion. ‘Let the man speak.’

‘Thank you, mage, that is where we found The Pits.’

Shannon suddenly started to laugh uncontrollably. ‘Do you mean the same Pits that held the Demons? The same magical Pits that burn with an eternal fire? Truly, you are trying to trick us! You’re taking us for fools!’

‘Let the man speak, Shanondarion, I’ve heard Eria and Shinden talk about these Pits as well,’ said Zakariah.

‘The Gods probably like fairy tales as well then, old man,’ said the Archmage as he stopped laughing.

‘I’ve seen the Inferno, mage. I’ve seen the undying flames that spawn those horrible creatures we call Demons. In fact, I spoke with one of them. He, or rather a she really, emerged from the flames and walked towards us. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and her beauty instantly put me under her spell.’

‘The fact that she probably wasn’t wearing any clothes had nothing to do with that, right?’ mocked Shannon.

‘She promised me a place beside her that night and, of course, Such power that men can only dream of. At first, I refused, but she was persistent and the sound of immortality seemed quite sweet to my ears. If only I had known the terrible price for that immortality! I foolishly accepted her offer and got exactly what I asked for.’

‘What did you get?’ asked Tristan when Tenebris had finished his story.

‘Immortality, young one, immortality and a strength that men can only dream of.’

‘But what about the cost?’ asked Rhyddion with a grim look on his face.

‘Tell him! Tell him what you did to the people of the Countryside!’ yelled Zakariah with a sudden rage.

‘Fine! Calm down, old man! But just so you know, you’ll need me to get out of this cave…’

‘Go on, tell us the price, Tenebris,’ said Rhyddion as he stepped closer to the pale man.

‘She cursed me! She transferred some of her Demonic essence to me and turned me into one of them! As for the price that comes with that curse, a Demon needs souls and a half-demon needs, well, blood. At first it didn’t seem all that terrible and I didn’t feel any different when I finally returned to my companions after my night in The Pits, but when we reached our boats… When we got out to the sea and saw the Four Vales on the horizon, that is when disaster struck. I felt a thirst, a terrible thirst, not for water, but for blood, their blood! I… I…’

‘Yes?’ taunted Zakariah.

‘I killed them! I drank their blood to quench that horrible, horrible thirst!’

‘And what about the people here, on the Countryside?’

‘When I got back home, people started asking questions and when they found out what I did… They tried to kill my family, because they thought that they were affected as well, little did they know, that I had already killed them myself and while they were burning down my house, I snuck out of Arcadia and moved to the Countryside. I figured that no one would ever come looking for me and the people there never lived long anyway, so a few more dead would never be noticed! I also found these creatures, these Leeches as you call them in your notes. For some reason, they listened to my Demonic presence. I found out that they feed on something inside their victims, but don’t kill them in the process, they only turn them in this sort of, docile state.’

‘In other words, easy prey, right?’

Tenebris hesitated for a while, but continued his story.

‘Aye, that is the case indeed. If I fed on the undead, no one in Arcadia could possibly find out that I was still alive as the Leeches could easily be blamed for the sudden amount of deaths around these parts and so they wouldn’t come looking for me.’

‘You’re saying that you led these Leeches to the Countryside just so that you could feed on the remains of those poor people?!’ asked Tristan. He drew his sword and ran towards the pale man. ‘I’ll kill for this!’

‘Tristan, no! We still need him!’ Rhyddion pulled Tristan back. ‘He’s the only one who can control the Leeches and lead us out of here.’

‘So basically, what this lunatic is trying to tell us,’ said Shanondarion. ‘Is that a She-Demon seduced him and turned him into something we know as a Vampire and that this Vampire led the Leeches to the Countryside so that he could feed on the undead?’

He started to laugh again, but he knew deep down that, judging from the man’s looks and the number of corpses on the floor of the cave, Tenebris was telling the terrible, terrible truth…