Wald, Blood Trail Chapters 1 and 2
Illustration from Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
Wald, Blood Trail by Christian L. Adams
Wald of Walstead used to be a royal knight. In fact, he was pretty high up in the organization, acting as a personal bodyguard to high king Bernard at one point. Then the war happened, and Wald served his country because he thought it was the right thing to do.
Filled with regrets for what he and his fellow knights did, he left. This story picks up years after that and a year after his battle with Seras in Bradsfield.
Elizabeth is a vampire who's spent decades tracking down the clan that turned her. She has a list, there are six names on it.
Amelia was an up and coming royal knight, who was forced to take the fall when the higher ups were caught extorting the populace.
Julia is a part time bard with a serious problem, a long rifle, and something to prove.
This is the story about a woman who was violently wronged, and her desire for cold hearted restitution, paid in blood.
Written between the summer of 2020 and the spring of 2021.
Rather graphic violence and mild language contained within.
Chapter 1 was initially a one-off before I decided to continue it. The story takes off by chapter 2, so imagine chapter 1 as a pilot.
34K words.
Episode 1: Elizabeth
Cannons, the dense forests of Norta on fire. The Yagarians were advancing. I ambushed a younger soldier, and drove my sword through his back. A cannonball crashed through the tree above me, raining soot and fire all over my head and my gambeson.
Episode 1: Elizabeth
Cannons, the dense forests of Norta on fire. The Yagarians were advancing. I ambushed a younger soldier, and drove my sword through his back. A cannonball crashed through the tree above me, raining soot and fire all over my head and my gambeson.
How much longer?
I woke up in a warm courtyard. This courtyard belonged to a long abandoned castle in the Eastern side of the country. It was about a year and a half after my battle with Seras, and this is all I'd been doing.
I got up, and looked around, wondering what Leah would have thought about the place. She never had a garden at Bradsfield castle.
After a little while I noticed a bag on the ground. It looked like someone's backpack, meant for traveling. I went to pick it up but right as I did there was a shout from above me. I didn’t have enough time to back away before someone tackled me and took me to the ground.
I rolled to my feet and tried to look at my assailant. He… no, I think she... was wearing a set of long sleeved clothing, with a hood. Not exactly what I would have worn in that weather. I half drew my sword before she was on me again.
A dagger very nearly pierced my neck but all I felt was a small prick. I could only hold her back with all my strength. And trust me, it took all of my strength.
Then, she relented, I saw her eyes widen and her expression relax. I pushed her off and she just stared at me. Finally, she spoke.
“You aren’t Edgar.”
I was able to catch my breath before replying. “No, I’m not.”
“Well, where is he?” She asked.
“Are you serious? I don’t know any Edgar.”
“He must be back in Bradsfield then.” She slowly stowed her dagger and picked up her bag. She checked the contents quickly before looking up at me. “What were you doing with my bag?”
“Gods, all these questions,” I said. “Nothing. I thought I was alone here and when I saw your bag, I figured someone had left it.” At this moment she just seemed annoyed, any malice was gone.
She sighed and slung it over her shoulder. “What’s your name?”
I hesitated, I wasn’t on the run at the time but entertained the idea of caution. “I’m Wald.”
She nodded. “Elizabeth.”
“What are you doing here, Elizabeth?” I asked.
“Working. What are you doing here?”
“Exploring,” I said.
“Have you been inside yet?” She asked
“I haven’t, and to be honest I wasn’t planning on it.”
“Well, aren’t you curious?”
Again, she didn’t seem like she wanted to kill me, and I was a bit curious. “Perhaps.”
“Let’s get inside then, the sun is starting to burn.”
I followed her over to a door in the stone wall. Once she tried the handle and it didn’t open, she kicked it down. To my surprise, it worked. The door may have been rotted from the exposure, but I couldn’t be sure. Inside, there were steps that descended further down into the castle. It was dusty, of course, but it had been disturbed recently.
Elizabeth lowered her hood and turned to me. It was then I could see her dark, black hair. She smiled and motioned for me to follow. “So, Wald,” she started. “Do you know what you’re getting into?”
“Whatever it is, I’m sure I can handle it.”
Elizabeth sifted through her bag and eventually pulled out what looked like a firearm. Similar to the hammer-based ones I had used during the war. It looked quite different though. I figured it was a foreign invention.
“Do you hear that?” She asked. I listened, and heard something coming our way. Something from around the corner. “They can smell us.” She said.
A feral creature rounded the corner and with precision, Elizabeth fired her gun at it’s chest. Let me tell you, there was no need for precision. A blast of orange sparks lit up the corridor. The creature landed a good five feet away and writhed and screamed as the burning hole in its body grew bigger.
“What the hell was that?” I asked.
She looked at me and smiled again. “Fire salt shells. I make them myself.” She split the gun open and replaced a small vessel inside. That’s when I noticed that there were two barrels on the thing. With a crack it came back together.
“Was that a vampire?” I asked.
“It was a sort of vampire, to be sure. A feral one. The kind that has lost all control. Have you ever seen a vampire, Wald?”
“Not a full blooded one.”
“Well you’re looking at one.” She stuck the tip of her thumb into her mouth and bit down. Blood trickled down her finger as she showed it to me. “An honest to goodness, full blooded, blood-sucker.”
“What was the blood supposed to prove?” I asked
“We drink it.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be evil?” I asked.
“Do I seem evil?”
She seemed to be genuinely enjoying what she saw as ignorance. “Aren't you a predator, by nature? You know, if I was still with the Royal Knights they would expect me to kill you.”
She stopped walking and turned to me. “You were a Royal Knight?”
“Yeah, I was.”
She laughed. “No… are you telling me you’re that guy? That Wald? The one who killed your own guys at Fort Glass? The one who beat down Seras years back?”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
She laughed again. “You’re the guy who’s dating the queen of Bradsfield! Right?”
That one caught me off guard. “Dating? What! We’re strictly platonic, thanks.”
“That’s not what the tabloids say.”
“You read the tabloids? I haven’t even seen her in two years. I barely left her with a ‘goodbye’.”
“Wow, what a story that would make. The queen, waiting on the wings for the love of her life. She’s trying to run her kingdom. He’s out wandering around, hanging out with vampires. Oh, how you’ve fallen, Wald.”
“It doesn’t matter what you believe.”
“Oh I know, but it definitely got you all flustered. Besides Wald, it’s rude to talk about the last girl when you have a new one right next to you.”
“I’m sure you’re as likely to kiss me as you are to kill me in my sleep.”
“I’ll never tell. I have to keep you on your toes.”
After more walking and some more feral encounters, we stopped short of a large, wooden door. It had become brighter as we proceeded higher into the keep and Elizabeth looked bothered by the light. She asked for help pushing the door open. I obeyed and on the other side was some sort of armory. I’d seen modern day Royal Knight armories and this one was similar.
“What are we looking for?” I asked.
“Two things. One, a dagger. It should look like a pretty plain dagger but the craftsmanship will be higher quality. It’s special, it glows in the presence of vampires.”
“What do you plan on using it for?”
“To tell if there are vampires nearby? What do you think?”
“Won’t it always be glowing because you’re nearby?”
“Actually, it’ll be much more useful with you here. The second thing is a map.”
I looked through the drawers of a nearby desk and found a few rolled up parchments. “Is this the map?” I asked. I unrolled it and read the title. "1360 battle sites.”
“That’s the one!” She shouted.
She came over and I saw the dagger in her hand. It was glowing a bright red.
At that moment, there was the sound of footsteps a floor above us. Many, many footsteps. In fact, they came from the halls as well.
“We had better go.” I said. She nodded.
“Agreed.”
I didn’t care to find out who was occupying the castle, I don’t think Elizabeth cared either. Above us on the wall was an opening big enough for us to fit through so we climbed up and out. Outside of the castle were a group of lightly armored troops. I didn’t recognize their armor or their heraldry, which was concerning.
We rounded the wall to a spot where we wouldn’t be seen.
“Okay, Netta is just over in that brush.” I pointed to the edge of the woods.
“Who’s Netta? Another girlfriend, Wald? What the hell.”
“Netta is my horse, you damn fool.”
“I see. Ora is over there as well.”
We whistled for our steeds, luckily it went unheard by the soldiers. What they did notice, however, was two horses galloping across the field. We heard one of them shout ‘horses?!’ before we climbed on and took off toward the woods.
“I know a place!” I shouted.
Elizabeth rode up beside me. “A place? Is it your house? Where is it, the woods?”
“Yes, the woods.”
After about a short ride, we stopped at where I was living at the time. Darkhaven, a village that was home to witches, and more. It was a safe place for the perceived darker side of humanity. I tied my horse outside of my cabin and Elizabeth did the same.
Down the way it looked like there was a party going on. Not unusual for the place. They would hold celebrations every weekend and sometimes during the week.
Once inside I got a fire going in the hearth so we could see what we were doing. She laid the map out on the table and pointed to the spot we were headed.
“Right there, the site of the battle of Hollows-dale.”
“It’s pretty close I’d say. About a 45 minute ride from here,” I said. “What’s the point of the trip though?”
“There was another vampire that died during this battle. I have reason to believe they were carrying a good amount of gold. That’s what the dagger is for, it should glow near their grave.
“Did you know them?” I asked.
“I did, yeah…” with that she trailed off.
I decided not to press her.
Then, there was a knock on my door. “Hold on.”
“Who is it?” Elizabeth asked.
“Probably a neighbor, but I’ll be careful.”
I cracked open the door and saw a shorter woman wearing dark clothes. She was looking away, at the party. I opened the door fully and she turned to greet me.
“Hey! Wald!”
“Hey Anita, what can I do for you?”
“I just came from the hog roast and wanted to invite you over.”
I looked back at Elizabeth who just shrugged. “Thank you for the offer but I’m pretty tired tonight. I may go to bed early.”
She bowed and waved goodbye as she walked back to the party. I joined Elizabeth at the table again.
“Friend of yours?” She asked.
“That’s Anita, she’s a witch. More of the salves and remedies type though. She’s actually missing three fingers, they were cut off by a Royal Knight.” She gave me an incredulous look. “Not me,” I said.
“So, Wald. Do you know where vampires came from?” She asked me.
I thought about it. “I don’t, though I assume through some kind of divine will.”
“The first vampire was named Dama. She was the daughter of Joana, the goddess of relationships, and Teress, the war goddess.”
“The child of a god, huh? I’ve had run-ins with a few of them before. Wait a second…”
“What is it?”
“Aren’t they both women? And sisters?”
“Oh please, like that’s stopped them before.”
“Regardless, please continue.”
“No one knows if Dama is still alive somewhere but if she was she would be 1000 years old at this point.”
That night she slept on my bed and I slept on the floor. The following morning I packed some dried meats and got the horses ready. Elizabeth joined me outside.
I was right. About 45 minutes later we rode up on a rather innocuous looking field. After roughly 50 years this war-torn site looked nice. I had to put some distance between Elizabeth and myself to use the dagger. If it was within 20 feet of her it glowed brightly.
After a good amount of sweeping the empty field, I found a spot where the dagger glowed. I called Elizabeth and she came over with the shovels. We dug, but it didn’t take long. Whoever tended to these graves didn’t bury them very deep.
“I’m surprised bears didn’t eat the body.” I said, looking at the undisturbed bones. There was an arrow shaft through the ribs.
Elizabeth smirked. “Animals won’t eat a vampire’s flesh. I don’t know why but they just won't.”
Elizabeth got down on her hands and knees and started rummaging around in the grave. After a moment she pulled out a canvas sack that jingled around, no doubt filled with coins.
“You found it?”
She opened the bag and poured out some of the contents. They were Rahstoran gold alright. They hadn’t changed much in 50 years. Along with the coins came a small journal. Elizabeth smiled and picked it up, like she was counting on it being there.
She opened the first page and started reading. “June 18 1360. I can’t wait until this damn war is over and I can get back home to my daughter Eliz... “ her voice cracked. “Elizabeth. Being a vampire has provided the intended effect. I am unkillable, lest I be shot through the heart with an arrow.” She laughed after that line. Laughed through the tears gathering on her cheek.
“That’s unfortunate,” I said.
Elizabeth rose to her feet. “That’s the way it is though. As you can see, these are the remains of my father. He died when I was 20.”
“Doesn’t that make you in your 80s?” I asked.
“That’s a rude question.” She replied.
Then, something slid out from between the pages and landed at her feet. She picked it up and turned it over. It was a photograph of her and her father. I took a peek.
“Good looking guy, he had sharp features.”
She just nodded.
We heard horses but not in time. Those same foreign soldiers from the day before had shown up. Immediately they noticed us.
There were four of them. Two stayed back with bows while the other two approached us.
“What are you doing here?” One of them asked us in a notably foreign accent.
“That’s none of your business.” I responded. I was buying time. They were hostile, very hostile. This wasn’t going to end well unless I acted.
“Brother, we can’t let them leave.” The other said.
I went against everything I had believed at that moment.
I drew my sword and plunged it into the gut of the man in front of me. He shouted in pain. Before the other could react, a deafening blast went off next to me. Elizabeth had shot him in the neck with her shotgun, leaving his head attached by a gruesome thread.
I was about to chase the other two down and kill them but Elizabeth had beat me to it. She had sprinted toward them and tore out their throats with her fingers. To be honest it scared the hell out of me.
She just stood there, staring at the bodies at her feet. “Elizabeth! We have to go.” I shouted. She turned to me, her eyes on fire and her mouth stained red.
She seemed to snap out of it and got on her horse before we took off back to the village. As we rode, she wiped her mouth on her sleeve.
Neither of us spoke the entire trip. Once we were back and in my house she quickly washed her face off. I approached her to help but she roughly grabbed my arm.
“What is wrong with you?” I asked.
“Wald! I need blood. I’m sorry, I’ve been holding it in this long but I need blood. Please… give me some of yours."
“What? I’m not too eager to be turned, you know.”
“Wald. You can only be turned through a lengthy feeding on the neck. Not a quick bite of the wrist. I have to do this.”
I trusted her, perhaps against my judgement. I nodded and she bit into my wrist. Immediately it felt like I was falling downhill, like my stomach was sinking. After a few seconds she released me and backed up against the wall.
I put pressure on my wrist to stop the small amount of blood flow. “Are you okay now?”
She nodded and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. “Yeah, I’m okay now.”
I slept lighter that night, just to be safe. When I awoke the next morning she was nowhere to be found. She pulled the classic Wald move of disappearing during the night, I’m sure. Maybe she had felt bad about feeding on me. I couldn’t be certain. All I know is that when I opened my front door to wash my face, I didn’t see any sign of her.
Episode 2: Julia
The same morning that Elizabeth ditched me I rode into a nearby town to pick up supplies for Anita. I had stopped in at a lively tavern near the edge of town for a drink. I didn’t know if it was near harvest or what but the party was in full swing. I picked my drink up from the counter and took a sip.
“Hey!” someone shouted. I turned toward the gruff voice. There was a man who must have been six inches taller than me. He jabbed a finger in my direction. “That’s my drink.”
“It’s not,” I responded. The music coming from the stage was getting faster. I didn’t know who this bard thought he was but Rahstorans tended to enjoy more melodic songs, not the sort of… shredding that was happening here.
“It is,” he replied. This guy was really angering me so I got up and pushed him away with my hand.
“Piss off.”
“Hey! Bard! I’ll pay you 25 gold if you get this bastard!” He shouted. I watched the bard leave the stage with his guitar raised. He tried to smash it over my head. I moved aside and he smashed a helmeted man over the back.
“What the hell!” the helmeted man shouted. He lobbed his drink at the bard. The glass broke against his face, leaving it with a tidy trickle of blood. He spit blood and glass from his mouth and motioned to someone behind me. I didn’t let this stand, and punched him. I was aiming for his face but instead caught his throat.
"Urk!"
Quickly I turned to face the big idiot from earlier but he caught me with his arm, swinging it into a clothesline. I swear upon Valien I did a complete flip, landing on my stomach. At this point there was a fight on. More glass broke. Furniture broke. It was an all out brawl. Glass shards and splinters rained down on me from above.
I crawled on my stomach out the door and tumbled down the steps onto the cobblestone. There was blood on my face, which upon inspection turned out to be my own. Something had cut me open during the scuffle.
I got to my feet and caught my breath, thanking the gods that I was free and clear. That’s when the bard was thrown from the doorway and landed at my feet.
“You’re the asshole that tried to smash me with the guitar!” I shouted. The bard slowly got up and grabbed my collar.
“This is your fault, you bastard. You owe me for that guitar.” She said, mouth dripping with blood.
I just stared at her. "You're a woman.”
"Yes, I am!"
"Ah… hell."
“You know, I could have bought two guitars for 25 gold! And still had 1 left over for a bowl of soup!” She yelled as she shook me.
I pushed her off of me and tried to walk away when I was stopped by a group of guards coming down the street. I tried to leave the other way and was stopped by another group. They'd come in response to the commotion.
Before I knew it, The bard and I were locked in the same damn jail and the same damn cell.
“Your name is Julia, right?” I asked. I had heard one of the guards mention it as we were booked.
'That's it, Julia. You're through in this town,' the guard had said. Something like that at least.
The bard looked at me before her gaze returned to the floor. We sat on opposite sides against the wall. “Yeah…”
I tried to apologize. “Sorry about the whole…”
“The whole what? Don’t need your pity, we’re even now. Don’t apologize to me," she said.
“Fine.” I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt. It had come untucked during the brawl. I was still putting things together in my mind, it had happened so fast.
“What’s your name?” She asked.
“Wald.” I responded.
She looked up. “Wald? You’re the only other person I’ve heard that was named that. The other was that hero guy, the one who stopped the siege of Norta.”
I sighed. I was sick of this routine already. Anita pulled the same thing when she found out. All anyone wanted to ever talk about was the people I killed, either directly or indirectly.
“All I did was duel General Steiner, he ran away when I started winning. It’s not like there was much to save anyway, the city was on fire. I was just making sure the Queen was okay.”
Julia stared at me for an uncomfortable amount of time. “You’re Wald?”
“Yeah, that’s me.” I said.
“Really?" She sounded excited. "That’s surprising. You’re a great hero.”
Gods.
“The only thing great about me is how far I’ve fallen.” I smirked at the idea of anyone still having admiration for me after being gone so long.
“Come on,” Julia said. “You repelled that demon from Bradsfield.”
“Not before he killed King Alban.” I replied. I considered that one of my greatest failures. My greatest was joining the Royal Knights in the first place.
“Weren’t you the High King’s right hand guy?” She said.
“Yeah," I said. "You can see where that got me.” Blood on my hands and bodies weighing down my mind.
“Just a year ago you killed that murderer in Bradsfield." She paused to think. "Sara was his name, I believe."
“Seras was justified. I don’t give a damn what believing that gets me these days. You know my highs, but what about my lows? I live in the woods, with witches. That’s no knock on them though because they’re very nice people. My only friend right now is a vampire.” I came across more angry than I intended to.
Yes, Elizabeth was my friend as far as I was concerned, as sad as that might sound after two days together.
Other than that, I knew if I showed up in Bradsfield castle right now that Queen Leah would have my room ready for me. I knew that, but I hadn’t seen her for a year and a half. On top of that, she never drank any of my blood. I felt an unconventional bond with Elizabeth now. Was that a vampire thing? I made a mental note to research it later.
“A vampire?” Julia asked.
“Yeah, royal hero Wald is friends with a vampire. And you know the really interesting part? I prefer it this way.” I said.
“Oh, it’s not all bad, Wald. Come on, look at me.” I looked at her. “I was born in a hole. I came out covered in mud. It was raining. My mother was half a goat. At least, that’s what they told me. And my father? He was a full-blooded piece of shit.”
I laughed. “Half a goat, huh? What does that entail?”
“For one, I have a great sense of smell.” She sniffed audibly. “I can smell the guard. He’s about to pass our cell.”
“Hey! The guy on the right.” The guard pointed at me. “Your bail’s been posted.”
I got up. “Seriously? By whom?”
“You don’t get to know that until you leave.” He said.
“What about the Bard? Can she come with?”
The guard didn’t even think it over. “I really don’t care. Just don’t come back to Kipton. Either of you.”
The guards returned what we had on us at the time of the arrest. For me it was a few coins and a knife. For Julia it was a single coin and the neck of her guitar.
"Sorry about the guitar," I said.
Nothing to be sorry about, I did the smashing."
We stepped into the morning sun. It was a cool morning, dew had adorned the ground and greenery during our incarceration.
Julia took one last look at her broken instrument and tossed it aside.
“By the gods, Wald. I leave for a few hours and this happens.” A black haired woman stood opposite the jail. She had her arms crossed and looked amused.
“I thought you were gone.” I said.
“Yeah, like I said, for a few hours. I went to get those coins appraised. I thought maybe they would be worth more due to age. And guess what? They were. I traded in those 500 coins for… take a guess.”
“I…” tried to take a guess but she cut me off.
“580 coins. They were worth 20% more than the base value. And guess what else, Wald.”
“I…” tried to guess again, but she cut me off.
“Your bail was 57 gold. You owe me.”
I had no rebuttal, it seemed fair. “Fine.”
She laughed. “No, no, you helped me find them after all. I drank your blood, slept in your bed.”
Julia shot me an incredulous look. “I slept on the floor,” I explained.
“Who’s the bard?” Elizabeth asked.
“How did you know I was a bard?” Julia asked.
“I’ve seen bards before,” she responded, annoyed.
“Elizabeth, this is Julia.” Julia waved. “It’s sort of my fault she got a glass to the face last night. And it’s absolutely my fault that she was punched in the throat, by me.”
“Nice to meet you." She quickly moved on. "Now, Wald, I found Netta wandering the walls this morning, your sword was with her too. Let’s get going. I need your help with something.”
“Sure, sure.” I answered.
I climbed onto Netta and Elizabeth climbed onto Ora. We were about to leave when Julia stopped us.
“Wait! You’re leaving me here?”
I shot Elizabeth a look. “You’re your own woman, aren’t you?” I said.
“Wald, I’m completely broke, my guitar is gone, and I can hardly show my face in this town anymore. Please, let me go with you, I can help, I swear.”
“She’s not riding with me,” said Elizabeth.
‘You have a horse somewhere, I hope?” I said.
Julia nodded. “There’s a camp outside the walls. I paid a trader to watch him while I performed. We should go there.”
Blood Trail is way too long for blog format, the other 95% of the story is free in .pdf form at: christian-l-adams.itch.io
I got up, and looked around, wondering what Leah would have thought about the place. She never had a garden at Bradsfield castle.
After a little while I noticed a bag on the ground. It looked like someone's backpack, meant for traveling. I went to pick it up but right as I did there was a shout from above me. I didn’t have enough time to back away before someone tackled me and took me to the ground.
I rolled to my feet and tried to look at my assailant. He… no, I think she... was wearing a set of long sleeved clothing, with a hood. Not exactly what I would have worn in that weather. I half drew my sword before she was on me again.
A dagger very nearly pierced my neck but all I felt was a small prick. I could only hold her back with all my strength. And trust me, it took all of my strength.
Then, she relented, I saw her eyes widen and her expression relax. I pushed her off and she just stared at me. Finally, she spoke.
“You aren’t Edgar.”
I was able to catch my breath before replying. “No, I’m not.”
“Well, where is he?” She asked.
“Are you serious? I don’t know any Edgar.”
“He must be back in Bradsfield then.” She slowly stowed her dagger and picked up her bag. She checked the contents quickly before looking up at me. “What were you doing with my bag?”
“Gods, all these questions,” I said. “Nothing. I thought I was alone here and when I saw your bag, I figured someone had left it.” At this moment she just seemed annoyed, any malice was gone.
She sighed and slung it over her shoulder. “What’s your name?”
I hesitated, I wasn’t on the run at the time but entertained the idea of caution. “I’m Wald.”
She nodded. “Elizabeth.”
“What are you doing here, Elizabeth?” I asked.
“Working. What are you doing here?”
“Exploring,” I said.
“Have you been inside yet?” She asked
“I haven’t, and to be honest I wasn’t planning on it.”
“Well, aren’t you curious?”
Again, she didn’t seem like she wanted to kill me, and I was a bit curious. “Perhaps.”
“Let’s get inside then, the sun is starting to burn.”
I followed her over to a door in the stone wall. Once she tried the handle and it didn’t open, she kicked it down. To my surprise, it worked. The door may have been rotted from the exposure, but I couldn’t be sure. Inside, there were steps that descended further down into the castle. It was dusty, of course, but it had been disturbed recently.
Elizabeth lowered her hood and turned to me. It was then I could see her dark, black hair. She smiled and motioned for me to follow. “So, Wald,” she started. “Do you know what you’re getting into?”
“Whatever it is, I’m sure I can handle it.”
Elizabeth sifted through her bag and eventually pulled out what looked like a firearm. Similar to the hammer-based ones I had used during the war. It looked quite different though. I figured it was a foreign invention.
“Do you hear that?” She asked. I listened, and heard something coming our way. Something from around the corner. “They can smell us.” She said.
A feral creature rounded the corner and with precision, Elizabeth fired her gun at it’s chest. Let me tell you, there was no need for precision. A blast of orange sparks lit up the corridor. The creature landed a good five feet away and writhed and screamed as the burning hole in its body grew bigger.
“What the hell was that?” I asked.
She looked at me and smiled again. “Fire salt shells. I make them myself.” She split the gun open and replaced a small vessel inside. That’s when I noticed that there were two barrels on the thing. With a crack it came back together.
“Was that a vampire?” I asked.
“It was a sort of vampire, to be sure. A feral one. The kind that has lost all control. Have you ever seen a vampire, Wald?”
“Not a full blooded one.”
“Well you’re looking at one.” She stuck the tip of her thumb into her mouth and bit down. Blood trickled down her finger as she showed it to me. “An honest to goodness, full blooded, blood-sucker.”
“What was the blood supposed to prove?” I asked
“We drink it.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be evil?” I asked.
“Do I seem evil?”
She seemed to be genuinely enjoying what she saw as ignorance. “Aren't you a predator, by nature? You know, if I was still with the Royal Knights they would expect me to kill you.”
She stopped walking and turned to me. “You were a Royal Knight?”
“Yeah, I was.”
She laughed. “No… are you telling me you’re that guy? That Wald? The one who killed your own guys at Fort Glass? The one who beat down Seras years back?”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
She laughed again. “You’re the guy who’s dating the queen of Bradsfield! Right?”
That one caught me off guard. “Dating? What! We’re strictly platonic, thanks.”
“That’s not what the tabloids say.”
“You read the tabloids? I haven’t even seen her in two years. I barely left her with a ‘goodbye’.”
“Wow, what a story that would make. The queen, waiting on the wings for the love of her life. She’s trying to run her kingdom. He’s out wandering around, hanging out with vampires. Oh, how you’ve fallen, Wald.”
“It doesn’t matter what you believe.”
“Oh I know, but it definitely got you all flustered. Besides Wald, it’s rude to talk about the last girl when you have a new one right next to you.”
“I’m sure you’re as likely to kiss me as you are to kill me in my sleep.”
“I’ll never tell. I have to keep you on your toes.”
After more walking and some more feral encounters, we stopped short of a large, wooden door. It had become brighter as we proceeded higher into the keep and Elizabeth looked bothered by the light. She asked for help pushing the door open. I obeyed and on the other side was some sort of armory. I’d seen modern day Royal Knight armories and this one was similar.
“What are we looking for?” I asked.
“Two things. One, a dagger. It should look like a pretty plain dagger but the craftsmanship will be higher quality. It’s special, it glows in the presence of vampires.”
“What do you plan on using it for?”
“To tell if there are vampires nearby? What do you think?”
“Won’t it always be glowing because you’re nearby?”
“Actually, it’ll be much more useful with you here. The second thing is a map.”
I looked through the drawers of a nearby desk and found a few rolled up parchments. “Is this the map?” I asked. I unrolled it and read the title. "1360 battle sites.”
“That’s the one!” She shouted.
She came over and I saw the dagger in her hand. It was glowing a bright red.
At that moment, there was the sound of footsteps a floor above us. Many, many footsteps. In fact, they came from the halls as well.
“We had better go.” I said. She nodded.
“Agreed.”
I didn’t care to find out who was occupying the castle, I don’t think Elizabeth cared either. Above us on the wall was an opening big enough for us to fit through so we climbed up and out. Outside of the castle were a group of lightly armored troops. I didn’t recognize their armor or their heraldry, which was concerning.
We rounded the wall to a spot where we wouldn’t be seen.
“Okay, Netta is just over in that brush.” I pointed to the edge of the woods.
“Who’s Netta? Another girlfriend, Wald? What the hell.”
“Netta is my horse, you damn fool.”
“I see. Ora is over there as well.”
We whistled for our steeds, luckily it went unheard by the soldiers. What they did notice, however, was two horses galloping across the field. We heard one of them shout ‘horses?!’ before we climbed on and took off toward the woods.
“I know a place!” I shouted.
Elizabeth rode up beside me. “A place? Is it your house? Where is it, the woods?”
“Yes, the woods.”
After about a short ride, we stopped at where I was living at the time. Darkhaven, a village that was home to witches, and more. It was a safe place for the perceived darker side of humanity. I tied my horse outside of my cabin and Elizabeth did the same.
Down the way it looked like there was a party going on. Not unusual for the place. They would hold celebrations every weekend and sometimes during the week.
Once inside I got a fire going in the hearth so we could see what we were doing. She laid the map out on the table and pointed to the spot we were headed.
“Right there, the site of the battle of Hollows-dale.”
“It’s pretty close I’d say. About a 45 minute ride from here,” I said. “What’s the point of the trip though?”
“There was another vampire that died during this battle. I have reason to believe they were carrying a good amount of gold. That’s what the dagger is for, it should glow near their grave.
“Did you know them?” I asked.
“I did, yeah…” with that she trailed off.
I decided not to press her.
Then, there was a knock on my door. “Hold on.”
“Who is it?” Elizabeth asked.
“Probably a neighbor, but I’ll be careful.”
I cracked open the door and saw a shorter woman wearing dark clothes. She was looking away, at the party. I opened the door fully and she turned to greet me.
“Hey! Wald!”
“Hey Anita, what can I do for you?”
“I just came from the hog roast and wanted to invite you over.”
I looked back at Elizabeth who just shrugged. “Thank you for the offer but I’m pretty tired tonight. I may go to bed early.”
She bowed and waved goodbye as she walked back to the party. I joined Elizabeth at the table again.
“Friend of yours?” She asked.
“That’s Anita, she’s a witch. More of the salves and remedies type though. She’s actually missing three fingers, they were cut off by a Royal Knight.” She gave me an incredulous look. “Not me,” I said.
“So, Wald. Do you know where vampires came from?” She asked me.
I thought about it. “I don’t, though I assume through some kind of divine will.”
“The first vampire was named Dama. She was the daughter of Joana, the goddess of relationships, and Teress, the war goddess.”
“The child of a god, huh? I’ve had run-ins with a few of them before. Wait a second…”
“What is it?”
“Aren’t they both women? And sisters?”
“Oh please, like that’s stopped them before.”
“Regardless, please continue.”
“No one knows if Dama is still alive somewhere but if she was she would be 1000 years old at this point.”
That night she slept on my bed and I slept on the floor. The following morning I packed some dried meats and got the horses ready. Elizabeth joined me outside.
I was right. About 45 minutes later we rode up on a rather innocuous looking field. After roughly 50 years this war-torn site looked nice. I had to put some distance between Elizabeth and myself to use the dagger. If it was within 20 feet of her it glowed brightly.
After a good amount of sweeping the empty field, I found a spot where the dagger glowed. I called Elizabeth and she came over with the shovels. We dug, but it didn’t take long. Whoever tended to these graves didn’t bury them very deep.
“I’m surprised bears didn’t eat the body.” I said, looking at the undisturbed bones. There was an arrow shaft through the ribs.
Elizabeth smirked. “Animals won’t eat a vampire’s flesh. I don’t know why but they just won't.”
Elizabeth got down on her hands and knees and started rummaging around in the grave. After a moment she pulled out a canvas sack that jingled around, no doubt filled with coins.
“You found it?”
She opened the bag and poured out some of the contents. They were Rahstoran gold alright. They hadn’t changed much in 50 years. Along with the coins came a small journal. Elizabeth smiled and picked it up, like she was counting on it being there.
She opened the first page and started reading. “June 18 1360. I can’t wait until this damn war is over and I can get back home to my daughter Eliz... “ her voice cracked. “Elizabeth. Being a vampire has provided the intended effect. I am unkillable, lest I be shot through the heart with an arrow.” She laughed after that line. Laughed through the tears gathering on her cheek.
“That’s unfortunate,” I said.
Elizabeth rose to her feet. “That’s the way it is though. As you can see, these are the remains of my father. He died when I was 20.”
“Doesn’t that make you in your 80s?” I asked.
“That’s a rude question.” She replied.
Then, something slid out from between the pages and landed at her feet. She picked it up and turned it over. It was a photograph of her and her father. I took a peek.
“Good looking guy, he had sharp features.”
She just nodded.
We heard horses but not in time. Those same foreign soldiers from the day before had shown up. Immediately they noticed us.
There were four of them. Two stayed back with bows while the other two approached us.
“What are you doing here?” One of them asked us in a notably foreign accent.
“That’s none of your business.” I responded. I was buying time. They were hostile, very hostile. This wasn’t going to end well unless I acted.
“Brother, we can’t let them leave.” The other said.
I went against everything I had believed at that moment.
I drew my sword and plunged it into the gut of the man in front of me. He shouted in pain. Before the other could react, a deafening blast went off next to me. Elizabeth had shot him in the neck with her shotgun, leaving his head attached by a gruesome thread.
I was about to chase the other two down and kill them but Elizabeth had beat me to it. She had sprinted toward them and tore out their throats with her fingers. To be honest it scared the hell out of me.
She just stood there, staring at the bodies at her feet. “Elizabeth! We have to go.” I shouted. She turned to me, her eyes on fire and her mouth stained red.
She seemed to snap out of it and got on her horse before we took off back to the village. As we rode, she wiped her mouth on her sleeve.
Neither of us spoke the entire trip. Once we were back and in my house she quickly washed her face off. I approached her to help but she roughly grabbed my arm.
“What is wrong with you?” I asked.
“Wald! I need blood. I’m sorry, I’ve been holding it in this long but I need blood. Please… give me some of yours."
“What? I’m not too eager to be turned, you know.”
“Wald. You can only be turned through a lengthy feeding on the neck. Not a quick bite of the wrist. I have to do this.”
I trusted her, perhaps against my judgement. I nodded and she bit into my wrist. Immediately it felt like I was falling downhill, like my stomach was sinking. After a few seconds she released me and backed up against the wall.
I put pressure on my wrist to stop the small amount of blood flow. “Are you okay now?”
She nodded and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. “Yeah, I’m okay now.”
I slept lighter that night, just to be safe. When I awoke the next morning she was nowhere to be found. She pulled the classic Wald move of disappearing during the night, I’m sure. Maybe she had felt bad about feeding on me. I couldn’t be certain. All I know is that when I opened my front door to wash my face, I didn’t see any sign of her.
Episode 2: Julia
The same morning that Elizabeth ditched me I rode into a nearby town to pick up supplies for Anita. I had stopped in at a lively tavern near the edge of town for a drink. I didn’t know if it was near harvest or what but the party was in full swing. I picked my drink up from the counter and took a sip.
“Hey!” someone shouted. I turned toward the gruff voice. There was a man who must have been six inches taller than me. He jabbed a finger in my direction. “That’s my drink.”
“It’s not,” I responded. The music coming from the stage was getting faster. I didn’t know who this bard thought he was but Rahstorans tended to enjoy more melodic songs, not the sort of… shredding that was happening here.
“It is,” he replied. This guy was really angering me so I got up and pushed him away with my hand.
“Piss off.”
“Hey! Bard! I’ll pay you 25 gold if you get this bastard!” He shouted. I watched the bard leave the stage with his guitar raised. He tried to smash it over my head. I moved aside and he smashed a helmeted man over the back.
“What the hell!” the helmeted man shouted. He lobbed his drink at the bard. The glass broke against his face, leaving it with a tidy trickle of blood. He spit blood and glass from his mouth and motioned to someone behind me. I didn’t let this stand, and punched him. I was aiming for his face but instead caught his throat.
"Urk!"
Quickly I turned to face the big idiot from earlier but he caught me with his arm, swinging it into a clothesline. I swear upon Valien I did a complete flip, landing on my stomach. At this point there was a fight on. More glass broke. Furniture broke. It was an all out brawl. Glass shards and splinters rained down on me from above.
I crawled on my stomach out the door and tumbled down the steps onto the cobblestone. There was blood on my face, which upon inspection turned out to be my own. Something had cut me open during the scuffle.
I got to my feet and caught my breath, thanking the gods that I was free and clear. That’s when the bard was thrown from the doorway and landed at my feet.
“You’re the asshole that tried to smash me with the guitar!” I shouted. The bard slowly got up and grabbed my collar.
“This is your fault, you bastard. You owe me for that guitar.” She said, mouth dripping with blood.
I just stared at her. "You're a woman.”
"Yes, I am!"
"Ah… hell."
“You know, I could have bought two guitars for 25 gold! And still had 1 left over for a bowl of soup!” She yelled as she shook me.
I pushed her off of me and tried to walk away when I was stopped by a group of guards coming down the street. I tried to leave the other way and was stopped by another group. They'd come in response to the commotion.
Before I knew it, The bard and I were locked in the same damn jail and the same damn cell.
“Your name is Julia, right?” I asked. I had heard one of the guards mention it as we were booked.
'That's it, Julia. You're through in this town,' the guard had said. Something like that at least.
The bard looked at me before her gaze returned to the floor. We sat on opposite sides against the wall. “Yeah…”
I tried to apologize. “Sorry about the whole…”
“The whole what? Don’t need your pity, we’re even now. Don’t apologize to me," she said.
“Fine.” I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt. It had come untucked during the brawl. I was still putting things together in my mind, it had happened so fast.
“What’s your name?” She asked.
“Wald.” I responded.
She looked up. “Wald? You’re the only other person I’ve heard that was named that. The other was that hero guy, the one who stopped the siege of Norta.”
I sighed. I was sick of this routine already. Anita pulled the same thing when she found out. All anyone wanted to ever talk about was the people I killed, either directly or indirectly.
“All I did was duel General Steiner, he ran away when I started winning. It’s not like there was much to save anyway, the city was on fire. I was just making sure the Queen was okay.”
Julia stared at me for an uncomfortable amount of time. “You’re Wald?”
“Yeah, that’s me.” I said.
“Really?" She sounded excited. "That’s surprising. You’re a great hero.”
Gods.
“The only thing great about me is how far I’ve fallen.” I smirked at the idea of anyone still having admiration for me after being gone so long.
“Come on,” Julia said. “You repelled that demon from Bradsfield.”
“Not before he killed King Alban.” I replied. I considered that one of my greatest failures. My greatest was joining the Royal Knights in the first place.
“Weren’t you the High King’s right hand guy?” She said.
“Yeah," I said. "You can see where that got me.” Blood on my hands and bodies weighing down my mind.
“Just a year ago you killed that murderer in Bradsfield." She paused to think. "Sara was his name, I believe."
“Seras was justified. I don’t give a damn what believing that gets me these days. You know my highs, but what about my lows? I live in the woods, with witches. That’s no knock on them though because they’re very nice people. My only friend right now is a vampire.” I came across more angry than I intended to.
Yes, Elizabeth was my friend as far as I was concerned, as sad as that might sound after two days together.
Other than that, I knew if I showed up in Bradsfield castle right now that Queen Leah would have my room ready for me. I knew that, but I hadn’t seen her for a year and a half. On top of that, she never drank any of my blood. I felt an unconventional bond with Elizabeth now. Was that a vampire thing? I made a mental note to research it later.
“A vampire?” Julia asked.
“Yeah, royal hero Wald is friends with a vampire. And you know the really interesting part? I prefer it this way.” I said.
“Oh, it’s not all bad, Wald. Come on, look at me.” I looked at her. “I was born in a hole. I came out covered in mud. It was raining. My mother was half a goat. At least, that’s what they told me. And my father? He was a full-blooded piece of shit.”
I laughed. “Half a goat, huh? What does that entail?”
“For one, I have a great sense of smell.” She sniffed audibly. “I can smell the guard. He’s about to pass our cell.”
“Hey! The guy on the right.” The guard pointed at me. “Your bail’s been posted.”
I got up. “Seriously? By whom?”
“You don’t get to know that until you leave.” He said.
“What about the Bard? Can she come with?”
The guard didn’t even think it over. “I really don’t care. Just don’t come back to Kipton. Either of you.”
The guards returned what we had on us at the time of the arrest. For me it was a few coins and a knife. For Julia it was a single coin and the neck of her guitar.
"Sorry about the guitar," I said.
Nothing to be sorry about, I did the smashing."
We stepped into the morning sun. It was a cool morning, dew had adorned the ground and greenery during our incarceration.
Julia took one last look at her broken instrument and tossed it aside.
“By the gods, Wald. I leave for a few hours and this happens.” A black haired woman stood opposite the jail. She had her arms crossed and looked amused.
“I thought you were gone.” I said.
“Yeah, like I said, for a few hours. I went to get those coins appraised. I thought maybe they would be worth more due to age. And guess what? They were. I traded in those 500 coins for… take a guess.”
“I…” tried to take a guess but she cut me off.
“580 coins. They were worth 20% more than the base value. And guess what else, Wald.”
“I…” tried to guess again, but she cut me off.
“Your bail was 57 gold. You owe me.”
I had no rebuttal, it seemed fair. “Fine.”
She laughed. “No, no, you helped me find them after all. I drank your blood, slept in your bed.”
Julia shot me an incredulous look. “I slept on the floor,” I explained.
“Who’s the bard?” Elizabeth asked.
“How did you know I was a bard?” Julia asked.
“I’ve seen bards before,” she responded, annoyed.
“Elizabeth, this is Julia.” Julia waved. “It’s sort of my fault she got a glass to the face last night. And it’s absolutely my fault that she was punched in the throat, by me.”
“Nice to meet you." She quickly moved on. "Now, Wald, I found Netta wandering the walls this morning, your sword was with her too. Let’s get going. I need your help with something.”
“Sure, sure.” I answered.
I climbed onto Netta and Elizabeth climbed onto Ora. We were about to leave when Julia stopped us.
“Wait! You’re leaving me here?”
I shot Elizabeth a look. “You’re your own woman, aren’t you?” I said.
“Wald, I’m completely broke, my guitar is gone, and I can hardly show my face in this town anymore. Please, let me go with you, I can help, I swear.”
“She’s not riding with me,” said Elizabeth.
‘You have a horse somewhere, I hope?” I said.
Julia nodded. “There’s a camp outside the walls. I paid a trader to watch him while I performed. We should go there.”
Blood Trail is way too long for blog format, the other 95% of the story is free in .pdf form at: christian-l-adams.itch.io
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