Thrown Into The Snow

"You're far too drunk to reason with. No more drink, no more pipe. Sleep for you.", Venetica said, grabbing Cassuner 's pipe and flaggon from him. He made a feeble attempt at revenge, but he was far to drunk to make any sort of counter attack. He sat angrily with his arms crossed, glaring daggers at her.

"Fairy, go grab his gear. He's too drunk to make it up the stairs.", Venetica said, looking around the bar. The madness was winding down as people became too drunk to continue partying. The day would begin in a few hours, noone has slept, and she coundn't account for half the party.

"Wonderful.", Venetica said to herself. "Sometimes I feel like I'm the only responsible one here."

"What about me?", Blink said, showing up with a blanket and Cassuner's bag. She tossed the satchel under his chair, and tossed the blanket over his head. He shouted a few curse words, that were muffled by booze and blanket. He was set.

"Far too naive to be of any use.", Venetica replied coldly. "Find everyone, make sure they're not passed out in a pool of their own fluids."

The fairy left, searching for everyone. Aethr sat with his head on the table, firmly gripping his rifle with one hand and an empty flaggon of ale with the other. With a great attempt, she gave up trying to take the cup from him. Searching around, she found an empty barrel, and proceeded to fill it back up with all the ale on the table. He looked comfortable enough, hopefully he wouldn't kick the barrel over when he woke.

The giant slept on a table, two benches, and a couch. Not much Venetica could do to help here, so she left him be.

The wind mage was easy to make out, he slept in a corner, his lute playing itself. What a gift it must be, to sing yourself to sleep. His drink has spilled sometime in the night, so she made a note to prepare some wash water for the morning.

An unknown elf-like man was asleep near the wind mage, with his belongings sitting near him. After a quick look inside his stuff, a name was found. 'Seris'. She didn't know him, so she left him be.

That was it for the first floor. The fairy was checking the top floor. Maybe some of the group actually crawled into bed. Daylight would break in a few hours, but Venetica had already slept.

The tavern was silent, the patrons with houses leaving for them. The vampire could not be found, and Venetica hoped he wasn't off draining some poor peasant dry. Daylight came slowly, the fairy was terrible company. How could such a magical being be so corrupted by humanity? She would never know.

Daylight broke, not a minute too soon, and soon a female town guard dragged the vitalmancer into the bar. She wasn't wearing a helmet, and her long silvery hair brushed along her chainmail uniform.

"Can someone vouch for this man?", the guard said, holding him tightly by the elbow.

"His name is Sum. He's a friend.", Venetica said, standing up from her card game.

"Som. Close enough.", the guard said. "Let this be a warning, being drunk in public is a crime, and normally is a 75 coin fine."

"Thank you, guard. Might I ask your name?", Venetica flirted. "I would like to...thank...you for being so considerate."

The guard blushed, said nothing, and left. The vitalmancer scratched himself, and sat down.

"Darn.", V said to herself.

"So Som, how was prison?", Blink asked. "I heard people like you make 'friends' there. Did you make any friends?"

Venetica opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't. Day was upon them, they needed to be moving.

The day was starting outside, church bells were ringing, people were opening stalls, there were town guards walking amongst the populace, talking and accepting fruit whether the owners offered it or not.

"Ah, what a good day in the domain of man.", Blink said, looking out the window at the commotion. "What day is it?"

Lumen was the first male of the party to wake. He walked downstairs, all his belongings strapped to his back. Two mysterious blades formed an "X" while everything else hid within his backpack. Lumen was entirely ready to travel, both his legs and his embroidered lightweight clothing prepared to weather many miles. He walks downstairs and greets Blink, som, and V.

"Good morning." He says rather cheerily, refreshened by his good nights sleep. He looks out of the nearest window and states, "The fresh snow outside will undoubtedly be a pain to walk in. The sun is turning it to slush as we speak." He then averts his eyes and counts the group. "Are we missing anyone?"

Deciding that going by what he could hear it was day and he could stop pretending to be asleep Sorrow opened his eyes. It troubled him that he still didn't need sleep. He had never needed sleep since "it" had happened and yet they had taken him while he was asleep and brought him here. He found it hard to believe that his sleep had been brought on natually and decided to simply put it down to the doing of the Bianca girl.

Rising slowly the benches, table and couch all groaned and the table even gave way and snapped under him as his weight shifted. Once he was fully up he looked around before walking over to Venetica and the others.

"Good morning" spoke a stranger to the others as he neared them.

Speaking slowly Sorrow said "Odd. You speak as if you know us yet I don't remember having seen you until last night and even then you didn't say much. Who are you?"

A loud crash emitted towards the group as the tavern door was kicked open. The door, not having been made to withstand such a blow, had been broken off its hinges. The poor door, now busted into pieces on the floor, had been the recipient of a blow by none other than Vrokos Bellini who, after stumbling inside, was revealed to have blood covering most of his face; giving him the appearance of having been mortally wounded. One should note however that not a single drop of the blood was of Bellini’s claim. Instead, through the tasting once again of sweet blood, after centuries of going without, had driven him to engorge throughout the night upon a vast amount of town’s lesser known citizens. As the town woke in the morning it would find its alleyways had been cleansed of a vast majority of its impoverished, petty merchants, and night time crooks. The new flowing blood within such ancient veins gave Bellini the appearance of one who had more alcohol within himself then was advisable; which is why the vampire community had named such an event: “Blood Drunk.”

Indeed, once turned a vampire one could no longer consume alcohol (or, for that matter, any foreign substance apart from blood) less it be rejected by their body. To make up for this, however, once a vampire has drank an amount of blood too vast for their body to process, the feeling given off by their bodies feeble attempt to rid itself of the overflowing amount it had received gave off the equivalent feeling to that of drunkenness (IE impaired judgment, decreased visual abilities, and an overall more aggressive attitude). Some vampires, such as those that lived within caves and feasted upon any that passed, were laughed upon by the aristocratic vampires, being called “alcoholics.” However, this is divulging into lore now forgotten overtime by the edge of a blade and should no longer be elaborated upon. Instead might we focus now towards the last aristocratic vampire upon the face of the planet and how he will react to his situation.

Not two steps into the building Bellini lost his footing and fell to the ground. He lay there for awhile catching his breath from having been fleeing the past several hours. Somewhere amidst his escape he had lost his glasses, exposing to anyone who cared to look his brightly lit amber eyes.

“I told you.”

“Shut it!” He shouted to no one but himself, “Just shut up!”

“You okay sir?” voiced a random concerned tavern maid.

“Just fucking dandy!” he yelled in reply.

Bellini didn’t want to yell, but with his inability to control himself he couldn’t help it. Attention was the very last thing he wanted at the moment due to current circumstances. Unknown to anyone yet aside from the city watch and himself was the fact that he was now wanted within the city for mass murder. Luckily, the ones that chased after him did not yet know he had been traveling with a party; being so, he would be the only one to face fines if caught, sever fines at that... Like death.

The night had started off the way he wanted it to. Knowing that the party would be traveling come sunrise it was imperative he drink blood so that the sunlight would not degrade his abilities. The problem came after tasting the first sip of blood. It had been the blood of an alley roaming prostitute and it had been in his intent only to feed from her. Rather hard was it then to explain to himself how moments later he was staring down at the drained dead corpse of the expensive sex companion and still had an insatiable urge to feed. Feed he did as he continued with a nearby penniless man who had slept through the entire event. Just as before Bellini had drained the man dry yet was still hungry. The larger percentage of him knew that it was within his best interest to stop at that point. The logic that had seen him through all these centuries still alive told him to hide the bodies and regroup with his companions. Like a man who had stopped after a lifetime of influence by drink who had tasted once again the nostalgic burn of rum, so too did Bellini continue, body after body after body. It was after his seventh, perhaps eighth, victim that a member of the night watch had trailed the bread crumb line of bodies to a hunched over monster ripping apart the neck of yet another victim. A wise man, a family man, knew fair well not to stop, nor attempt to stop the beast while feeding. Instead he tiptoed away as quietly as he had come to inform the rest of the guardsmen the event that had unfolded. Two more victims lost their lives before the night watch could gather together a feasible amount of men to attempt a fight. Stumbling once again upon the vampire one of the braver night watchmen, a man named Horas, chose to send an arrow into the back of the creature while it fed; his memorial will be upon Sundas, along with the other three brave night watchmen who fought and fell the demon they fought against. Sadly, the blood drunken vampire felt no pain as sword and arrow met and tore his flesh. What little logic Bellini had left in his crazed state informed him that this slaughter was not only digging an increasingly harder hole to climb out of; it was also spilling perfectly drinkable blood. A sound resonated like thunder as the vampire bolted away, taking only seconds to lose the vengeful militia. Seconds after Bellini’s foot met the door to the tavern he had started at. He was gasping for breath, covered in blood, and had fallen on the floor, and couldn’t see straight because his vision was so blurred from his consumption. Needless to say he was in a state of greater shock then the group that looked down upon him.

“I need clothes,” he said in an attempt to regain himself, “Clean clothes and bandages.”

Knowing that focusing his request to the group would bring them into the matter he brought upon himself he stated the request in a manner to all within the bar.

“Fuck!” he shouted, again only to himself, “Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!”

With each shouting of the word fuck his fist had greeted the wood floor beneath him, placing several holes within it. After the blows to the floor had been dealt there was nothing but silence surrounding Bellini. The silence, however, was short lived, and soon filled with that of metal plated feet treading towards his position.

“I don’t have time,” he said standing back up and looking around, “I have to go.”

The vampire took two steps forward then leapt through a back facing window. He’d have to join back with the group at a later, much safer, time.

A voice came from the pitch black helmet that adorned Sorrow's head.

"Odd. You speak as if you know us yet I don't remember having seen you until last night and even then you didn't say much. Who are you?" He spoke slowly, obviously questioning Lumen's purpose.

"Ah! My apologies! I have been so caught up in this excitement that I have forgotten to introduce myself! I am Lumen Atrum." Lumen extended his hand for a shake, yet it went unreceived. Sorrow was no fool, he had no idea who Lumen was or what he could do. Lumen dropped his hand and continued to elaborate, showing the large man that he was indeed a friend. "I was once under the service of the empire- bred for my talent with bending light to do the emperors bidding until quite recently... You see when i noticed the mild changes occurring in L'Juno I began to research using the vast resources of the empire. I came across exactly what you and the others must know; our world is dying. With magical powers across the populace receding, there would be no way to save our world. When I told this information the the emperor, he laughed and said my conclusions were of superstition only. He cannot feel the lance. He didn't care that something was wrong with it and insisted that magic was just a part of benders- it didn't come from some over sized artifact. The fool..." Lumen stopped for a moment. "So i ran away. I have been searching for other benders under the guise of my old occupation; benders not under the grip of any government to aid me in finding a solution. I had given up when bianca-" Lumen stopped once again, however this time looked slightly alarmed. "That's who we are missing! When was the last time you saw bianca? And what happened to that fellow with the glasses?"

Barely a second had past when the door of the tavern exploded. Lumen was quite startled, and his first reaction was to draw rutilus, the sword of light. A glow flickered into the room off the blade like a white flame. When he noticed the individual was part of the group he saw last night, he relaxed a little and started breathing again. Bellini didn't even seem to care, or perhaps he didn't even notice. None the less Lumen was fairly embarrassed for being so jumpy.

“Shut it!” Bellini shouted, “Just shut up!”

“You okay sir?” voiced a random concerned tavern maid.

“Just fucking dandy!” he yelled in reply.

Lumen took a step forward, worried that the bloodied man might attack the maid. He was prepared to defend her, and thankfully things did not turn violent. Bellini was some kind of monster with strength unknown to Lumen. Before long Bellini was gone once again, just in time to avoid any notice of armed guards running down the street.

"Well at least we know where the fellow with the glasses is. But what of Bianca and the fellow with the glasses' glasses?"

The vampire was there, and gone before Blink could speak, but not before she could react.

She gave chase, and since she too was not human, she was able to keep up. A small pinch of dust formed in her hand, her very skin cells disintegrating to form the dust.

She caught the vampire by the edge of his shirt, and dodging a claw strike she splashed the vampire with the dust. He coughed, and after a quick clothesline theft, they returned to the tavern.

The guards were still in the bar, questioning and looking at the broken window. A couple entered soon after, a young blonde haired girl with a rather severe burn on her right hand, and a lightly tanned black haired boy of roughly the same age.

"Ma'am?", the female guard that dropped Som off asked. "You have a rather severe burn, are you going to be alright?"

"Oh, I'll be fine. It looks far worse than it is.", Blink said, wincing at the slight pain in her injured arm.

"May I ask how it happened?", the female guard persisted.

"Bizarre torch accident. I almost set my parent's house on fire.", Blink replied, holding her 'boyfriend' tighter.

"You'll not be a tan hunk for much longer, maybe another twenty minutes.", Blink said through gritted teeth to Bellini.

The whole tavern dismissed the young couple as two teenagers walked into the bar, most likely attempting to make children in an empty room upstairs.

Venetica, however, recognized them immediately. Being a magister of Nature, the unnatural screamed at her. Divers were almost unbearable to be around, while vampires caused slight discomfort. The fairy’s pixie dust caused a glittering around their figures; a sort of shining that was hardly noticeable unless you were looking.

At least, this is how it was for Elves. Mancers of other elements were rather different in their ability to recognize magic.

“Pack up everyone. We’ve overstayed our welcome.”, Venetica said. Things were going to end badly, very soon.

- - Cassuner - -

Cassuner awoke that morning with his ears ringing. It took a full minute before he convinced himself to open his eyes. When he did, he discovered he'd kicked over the stool he passed out under. The noise hurt his head severely.

A hangover. He hadn't had one of those in years. "Frick, how much did I driiiiink?" he moaned, stretching out his sore limbs. The floor certainly made for a poor bed.

Scratching his head and smacking his lips, Cassuner leaned against the bar and tried to pick up his wits.

That's when the vampire dashed in, having very obviously caused a great deal of trouble. Luckily, Cassuner was too hung over to worry about or listen to much, though the loud noises the vampire made were most unwelcome.

Bianca.

Stumbling to his feet, Cassuner shot several fruitless looks around the room before turning on the infuriated barkeeper. "Did you see a little girl?" he demanded, trying to recall the exact appearance of his daughter's transformation, "about ten, blonde hair, she-"

"I remember," the barkeeper growled, "she left around midnight. Never came back."

Worldessly, Cassuner turned and ran for the exit, ignoring the barkeeper as he shouted after the pyromancer, demanding that someone pay for his broken window. In his haste to leave, Cassuner smashed into a diminutive figure as he burst from the bar.

Stopping briefly with intentions to make a quick apology, Cassuner was surprised to see Bianca, sprawled out on the floor. She was transformed, though the form she took was somewhat different than the previous one, with longer hair and blue eyes instead of black. "What'd you do that for?!" she pouted, rubbing her behind with both hands.

"You left last night," Cassuner stated ignoring her question.

Bianca's reply followed a brief pause, "I went for a walk." She gave him her best smile as he narrowed his eyes at her in suspicion. Then, with a shrug, Cassuner helped her up and struck out down the road.

"Where are we going?" Bianca asked merrily, skipping after her father.

"To buy horses, and supplies for them to carry. It's time we got this show on the road."

"Yaaaay!" Bianca hooted, dancing around in circles, "Adventure time!"

She seemed to be in high spirits, not even noticing the occasional screams marring the background. Cassuner covered his poor ears and tried to think of happier thoughts.

"Damn hangovers. Damn vampires."

- - - Two months later - - -

Suddenly (but not without warning) the Fourth Lance fell from the heavens, smashing into the Earth at full force.

Without any of the first three Lances functional, the human race was unable to be saved, though nobody even discovered how the Lances could save the human race anyway.

Fortunately Barthathos was not able to revive, as had been his goal after reviving the slain Cassuner as a child and attaching his soul to young pyromancer's. But with the planet reduced to life-void chunks of dead rock, it seemed a rather meager victory.

The Wolfgirl and Wolfboy survived though, and lived happily ever after on the moon.

To this day, the Sword of Sacrifice floats idly through the universe, waiting patiently for its next master.

- End

Tinie closed the book, and set it on the large rock. The two fires blazed merrily, and everyone sat around him as he told this story.

"Terrible.", Bauros said, brooding darkly by himself near his own fire. "That was the worst thing I have ever heard. Short too. It wasn't even a fifteen page book."

Tinie's little head sunk into his little chest. "It's a gnome book. Its a children's story, actually."

He shifted his feet on in the fine layer of dust that coated his rock. "My favorite, anyway. Or it was."

----

So it came to be that Tinie left the group, and began his own adventure with the orc, and eventually an alchemist. His death at the hands of the demonspawn, and subsequent being eaten by a giant octopus, then being blown apart by a pig riding a turtle was entirely the fault of Bauros, who didn't like Tinie's book.

The end.

Oh, Horker the Porker survived on the moon as well.