On a dirt path a man dressed as a jester trudged along passing the dark purple trees of the enchanted forest. Ropes secured a stone casket to his back. His steps were followed by heavy breaths as the weight of the casket bared down on him.
'Why did the casket have to be made of stone.' The jester complained to himself in his mind. 'Why would my master hide this casket so close to the fairy king's forest?'
Reaching a crossroads he contemplated on which path to follow. The man heard the sound of rustling from a bush beside himself. Pausing the man focused on the sound.
'It shouldn't be anything too dangerous. The creatures on this side of the forest are quite weak.' He thought without fear.
Reaching for the handle of his short sword he grasped it tightly. Tensing his body prepared for the creature to reveal itself. He slowly inches forwards towards the bush a grotesque green creature rushed out of the bush holding a club preparing to strike the man.
Before the monster could swing its club the head of the monster rolled off its neck. The jester moved as if the casket was weightless.
'Goblins? This is why I hate coming down here. Filled with nothing, but the mindless monsters roam this part of the land.' The jester thought as he looked at the hidden clearing.
'Only one? Goblins travel in packs. The rest probably got stuck in some ditch somewhere.' The jester thought.
Hearing rustling come from behind him once more the man agitated at the constant interruption turned with his sword drawn.
"Come out so I can kill you!" He shouted out to the clearing knowing that goblins are barely able to think and will attack and eat anything that moves.
"Will you now?" A cold voice reached out beyond the bushes bouncing off the trees echoing from every direction disorienting him.
"I meant no disrespect, I thought you were a goblin." The jester tightens his grip on his sword prepared to fight if the owner of the voice turns aggressive.
"Goblin? There shouldn't be any other creatures or races other than vampires in this part of the enchanted forest." Galser said his voice tinged with confusion as he moved from out of the bushes in front of the jester.
"Yes there are goblins? This part of the enchanted forest is known to have these types of creatures wandering around." The jester responded to him equally confused as he sheathed his sword.
"What exactly is a human doing on this side of the enchanted forest?" Galser asked the man concerned.
"My names Jessiah. Right now getting something for my master." Jessiah explained himself. "I've still got quite a way to go, so I'll be off now."
"No, I meant how you managed to get past the fairy king's forest." Galser said. 'Even amongst the strongest vampires very few can sneak past the fairy king.' He thought. "I've been in slumber for quite some time. If you could inform me of the changes since." He asked.
Jessiah stared at the vampire knowing he wouldn't be able to fight or even escape him. "How long have you been sleeping, because humans have been sent to the forest for around four hundred years."
"I should have been asleep for three hundred years, but my housekeeper passed in my sleep so it might be a slightly longer time than that." Galser replied unbothered. 'Not a lot can change in only a few centuries.'
"We might as well talk while we walk. It's going to take some time to tell you of the changes if you can't even remember humans coming to this forest." Jessiah said to him as they both walked down the path. "Do you know of the Galdorian empire?" Jessiah asked.
"No." Gelsper replied. 'The last empire in Rastein was the golden sun but that was over four millennia ago. Even then it only lasted a month before being wiped out.'
"They have been around for seven hundred years, created by the immortal king Galdore." Jessiah said.
Galser's surprise was clear as he asked. "Are you certain he is human?" Galser looked off the path suddenly, the forest looked to have become a magnitude darker.
"Yes, there are some people who believe he's part fairy but I wouldn't believe those rumours. He is the strongest human. He has even killed a few dragons by himself." Jessiah said with clear admiration.
Jessiah suddenly stopped moving. He looked at the forest surrounding the path, noticing the area had become far darker than it should be.
"Come out Rajis." Jessiah said to the empty forest.
"I didn't think you needed to get help to find the coffin." A rough voice croaked out. Emerging from the forest a sickly pale elf appeared. His dirt filled hair covered his sickening yellow eyes.
"Rajis, why have you crawled out of that dirty hovel you call a home." Jessiah said, aggravating the elf.
"Shut up, you filthy human!" Rajis screamed. Scratching his head as dirt fell out causing a pile of filth to cover the ground.
"I'm going to kill you and then master will make me stronger and I will be his strongest servant." The elf said a deranged smile filled with broken and cracked teeth.
"What is that?" Galser said repulsed by the dirt covered animal masquerading as an elf.
"He is a servant of my master. He's an idiot." Jessiah said flatly, aggravating the elf further.
As the words left his mouth the elf rushed towards him. His hands outreached as his nails turned to claws prepared to rip the human taunting him into pieces.
Jessiah saw the elf rush towards him, and let a smile grow on his face as prepared to quickly dispatch the elf.
Pulling out his sword from his sheath he held it in front of him.
Galser moved away leaning on a tree to watch the fight.
Jessiah prepared his stance, and used his magic to enhance his speed.
Rajis swung his clawed hand at Jessiah. Dodging under the elf's swing, the claws ripped off Jessiah's jester hat.
Gripping his short sword with both his hands he swung his sword towards the elf cutting into its leg, the elf let out a screech as his left leg was removed from his body.
Unable to keep his balance the elf fell to the ground glaring at the human who dared to remove his leg. Gathering his remaining strength into his arms he flung himself towards Jessiah unhinging his jaw.
Grabbing a hold of Jessiah's leg he slammed his jaw shut on the human's leg ripping out a chunk of his flesh as Jessiah pierced his skull with his sword.
"Dammit!" Jessiah grunted as he looked down at his leg, blood flooded out the wound creating a pool of blood underneath him.
Pulling off the remaining part of his hat he carefully wrapped it around his wound to try and slow down the bleeding. As he crouched he caught a bottle that was thrown at him.
"I forgot you were there." Jessiah said as he wrapped the remains of his hat around his leg.
"It's a healing potion." Galser said, moving towards him. "It should be able to completely heal you, as you're a human. No resistance to magic."
"Thank you?" Jessiah replied unsure. He had never seen a real healing potion. "What exactly is your name?"
"I'm Galser, a vampire lord." Galser said to him with a small smile.
Jessiah stared at Galser with a blank look. "I haven't heard of a vampire lord with that name. Or any vampire lord."
"You wouldn't have. Most vampire lords rarely leave their covens. They are also further up north past the living forest." Galser said.
"This potion isn't healing me that much…" Jessiah said trailing off not knowing how this vampire lord would take to someone questioning his skill.
"That is a little peculiar, usually humans heal almost instantly." Galser replied confused. "Perhaps humans have evolved to be more resistant to magic or at least to the effects of potions."
"I wouldn't know potions aren't really that common." Jessiah shrugged his shoulders. "This is actually the first time I've seen one."
"Here, I made this one for magical races. It should work on humans just as well." Galser said, handing him a more powerful healing potion.
"Magical races? Like jeivikats and frost giants?" Jessiah asked.
Jessiah stood after drinking the potion, his leg healed. 'It regrew my flesh? How do potions work?' He thought to himself.
"What's in that coffin? I can't feel anything inside it." Galser asked as they both continued down the path towards Jessiah's master's home.
"I wasn't told. Just where it was and to bring it to him." Jessiah said. 'I hope it was worth risking my life,' he thought.
"What is your master's name?" Galser inquired to know whether he knew of this vampire or not.
"My master's name is Jaskidon, he is just a normal vampire. He has been a little sickly recently." Jessiah said a slight amount of disdain dripped into his voice.
"I've never heard of him. You also don't seem to be overly fond of him either." Galser said.
Jessiah glanced at Galser looking at him questioningly.
Jessiah dropped the coffin on the floor, lifted up his jester tunic, and showed his chest to him. Dark purple flesh covered where his heart should be. The purple flesh writhed and pulsed as he took air into his lungs.
"He has my heart. If I try to do anything against him he can end me." Jessiah said, in the same way as he would have told someone that the sun is hot.
"That's unfortunate." Galser understood his subservience. "You could try and kill him. It is unlikely that the magic he used is actually bound to him."
"What do you mean?" Jessiah asked with uncertainty, a small amount of hope.
"This type of magic would need a constant supply of magic. It's likely he managed to get the service of a witch to do so." Galser said.
" A witch? Why?" Jessiah said confused at the accusation.
"You should learn more about magic. Witches have near limitless magic, but because of that they find it far harder to actually learn magic." Galser explained to him. "Witches of a young age tend to be more dangerous than the older witches, because of their lack of control."
"I've never heard of any witch working with my master before." Jessiah said thinking back to all the times he met his master. In his youth he might have met another being with his master but those days have long passed him.
"Witches do enjoy their privacy. They were almost completely hunted down due to their potential." Galser said.
"Wouldn't they work together?" Jessiah questioned a group of powerful beings not working to defend themselves.
"The most powerful witches were able to create their own kingdom in the fairy king's forest." Galser paused for a moment. "That however was before I went to sleep. Witches could have a very different way of life now."
"How old are you anyways. Surely not much time has passed since you went to sleep." Jessiah asked. 'My master was certain most if not all the vampire lords were wiped out.' He thought.
"As human I lived till I was hundred and twenty, but I of course didn't want to die. The least costly path to immortality happened to be vampirism." Galser said with a thoughtful look thinking of his youth. "I have been a vampire for four millennia."
Jessiah turned to him in complete shock. "What? You're not old, you're ancient!" Jessiah was unable to comprehend that the vampire walking besides him is older than every living and dead civilization he had knowledge of.