"Nadia, we're at the bottom again."
"What?! Oh, I... sorry!"
At the bottom of the rocky cliff whose top could not be seen from its feet stood Ruben, on his back carrying the frail girl who had clawed her hands into his shoulders and dug her face into his spine. She carefully opened her tightly shut eyes to see the ground just decimetres below her feet, and not the endless width of the sky but a light layer of leaves above her head. Insecurely, she climbed off her companion and tumbled onto the grassy soil.
It was a silent and uneventful walk back to the city, through the outer reaches of a small forest and past the fields that lay outside. Within the red walls, the streets were brimming with life. The pair, exhausted from the restless night and the long way back, settled down at the tavern where they had been the day before.
Nadia stared into her glass of milk, her eyes and mind losing themselves in the impenetrable white liquid.
"Hey... I know you're still sad about Camilla, she really was nice for a vampire. But you should rather be glad, now the people of this city don't have to fear nightly murders any more."
At the crowded neighbouring table, a man had overheard his words and stood up.
"What did you just say, boy?"
"Lady Oblatia was the vampire who killed people at night, but she's... gone now, and won't be able to harm any of you in the future.", Ruben replied with a tone in which insecurity and pride came together in dissonance. The man seized his shoulders.
"You're lying to me, aren't you? Or are you telling the truth?!"
"My friend here is my witness."
He gazed at her, who in turn lowered her head yet nodded nonetheless. As he saw neither the upset person nor the others that had gathered around them were yet satisfied, he recalled something and reached into his bag.
"Well, as proof I could show you this wooden stake. She had a lot of them in her tower..."
"What does a piece of wood prove, and why should we believe any word from a young stranger's mouth? If what you say was true however..."
"If that witch was dead it would be better for us all!", a random voice from out of the small crowd. One which was however instantly silenced by the still frail but unusually determined and enthusiastic one of a certain robed magician girl.
"Lady Oblatia was a noble and kind woman! What gives you the right to badmouth her like that?"
The man who had initially pressured Ruben and who had let go of him and calmed down by now tried to soothe her injured temper.
"Calm down, young girl. Almost none of us has ever actually met her, she never visits Ketherbrühl... At least during the day. All we ever get to see of her is her valet."
Ruben fell into his word. "Gerhardt?"
"Yes, that was his name. ...wait a moment, does that mean you have met him?"
"That's what we've been saying all the time!"
The man turned to another, and spoke in a lowered voice.
"They're strangers, I've never seen them around here before. There's no way they could know his name, unknown to most of the people here even..."
"I see your point. Indeed, he has not been down here since last week, so neither could they have talked to him here in the city."
"Does that mean they really did take care of the murderer?"
"...if so, it would be highly beneficial for our interests. Did these killings stop, the bishop's swollen words and strengthened influence would lose their meaning and we might finally be able to take back what is ours."
"Isn't that what we always wanted!"
"I say, we shall seize upon this opportunity. Inform the heads of the other guilds, meanwhile I will take over this situation for now."
"Right."
He went off. The one he spoke to stepped out of the crowd. It was a middle-aged man, well-fed and dressed in clothing not gorgeous but certainly finer than what was common.
"Praise be to thee, young hero! If what you tell us is indeed the truth, then this whole city is free of an enormous burden to its hearts. But let me introduce myself; I am Eduart Bahans, leader of Ketherbrühl's bakers' guild."
His voice grew louder and more enthusiastic, and ere Ruben noticed it he had led him out of the door and onto the market.
"You have done the city a great favour; it would only be just if it was known, would it not?"
"What?! Oh, I... sorry!"
At the bottom of the rocky cliff whose top could not be seen from its feet stood Ruben, on his back carrying the frail girl who had clawed her hands into his shoulders and dug her face into his spine. She carefully opened her tightly shut eyes to see the ground just decimetres below her feet, and not the endless width of the sky but a light layer of leaves above her head. Insecurely, she climbed off her companion and tumbled onto the grassy soil.
It was a silent and uneventful walk back to the city, through the outer reaches of a small forest and past the fields that lay outside. Within the red walls, the streets were brimming with life. The pair, exhausted from the restless night and the long way back, settled down at the tavern where they had been the day before.
Nadia stared into her glass of milk, her eyes and mind losing themselves in the impenetrable white liquid.
"Hey... I know you're still sad about Camilla, she really was nice for a vampire. But you should rather be glad, now the people of this city don't have to fear nightly murders any more."
At the crowded neighbouring table, a man had overheard his words and stood up.
"What did you just say, boy?"
"Lady Oblatia was the vampire who killed people at night, but she's... gone now, and won't be able to harm any of you in the future.", Ruben replied with a tone in which insecurity and pride came together in dissonance. The man seized his shoulders.
"You're lying to me, aren't you? Or are you telling the truth?!"
"My friend here is my witness."
He gazed at her, who in turn lowered her head yet nodded nonetheless. As he saw neither the upset person nor the others that had gathered around them were yet satisfied, he recalled something and reached into his bag.
"Well, as proof I could show you this wooden stake. She had a lot of them in her tower..."
"What does a piece of wood prove, and why should we believe any word from a young stranger's mouth? If what you say was true however..."
"If that witch was dead it would be better for us all!", a random voice from out of the small crowd. One which was however instantly silenced by the still frail but unusually determined and enthusiastic one of a certain robed magician girl.
"Lady Oblatia was a noble and kind woman! What gives you the right to badmouth her like that?"
The man who had initially pressured Ruben and who had let go of him and calmed down by now tried to soothe her injured temper.
"Calm down, young girl. Almost none of us has ever actually met her, she never visits Ketherbrühl... At least during the day. All we ever get to see of her is her valet."
Ruben fell into his word. "Gerhardt?"
"Yes, that was his name. ...wait a moment, does that mean you have met him?"
"That's what we've been saying all the time!"
The man turned to another, and spoke in a lowered voice.
"They're strangers, I've never seen them around here before. There's no way they could know his name, unknown to most of the people here even..."
"I see your point. Indeed, he has not been down here since last week, so neither could they have talked to him here in the city."
"Does that mean they really did take care of the murderer?"
"...if so, it would be highly beneficial for our interests. Did these killings stop, the bishop's swollen words and strengthened influence would lose their meaning and we might finally be able to take back what is ours."
"Isn't that what we always wanted!"
"I say, we shall seize upon this opportunity. Inform the heads of the other guilds, meanwhile I will take over this situation for now."
"Right."
He went off. The one he spoke to stepped out of the crowd. It was a middle-aged man, well-fed and dressed in clothing not gorgeous but certainly finer than what was common.
"Praise be to thee, young hero! If what you tell us is indeed the truth, then this whole city is free of an enormous burden to its hearts. But let me introduce myself; I am Eduart Bahans, leader of Ketherbrühl's bakers' guild."
His voice grew louder and more enthusiastic, and ere Ruben noticed it he had led him out of the door and onto the market.
"You have done the city a great favour; it would only be just if it was known, would it not?"
"Fellow citizens of Ketherbrühl, hear the wonderful news! This young man at my side has slain the demon which took so many lives in the more recent past!"
Gradually the busy chatter and trade on the square ceased, and more and more of the people present gathered round or at least listened closely in more or less convinced curiosity.
"The rumour had spread that lady Oblatia, this elusive woman living atop the Liother Ley, was the culprit and what some may call a "vampire". As it turns out, this was indeed the truth. However, fear no more! For she is gone and the curse that had been lying like lead on our city has finally been lifted!"
Nadia watched the scene from behind. Only per accident did her eyes get averted from the gesticulating guild leader continuing his speech of praise for the boy and soothing words for a previously frightened public and fall upon a figure in the background. Exiting the cathedral was the bishop, accompanied by two city guards and walking around the crowd and getting behind Eduart and Ruben. He walked up to and subtly but effectively pushed away the former, seizing his word along the way.
"Indeed, people of Ketherbrühl! 'tis but a day to be praised, for we are now rid of this ungodly demon which has plagued us many nights. See again the fate that awaits those who do not adhere to the path our Lord shows us through the institution of the church! He punishes heretics with most bitter deaths and guides the hands of faithful believers to slay the evil lurking..."
Nadia stopped paying attention to the bloated words of the cleric; one of the armoured guards the bishop had brought along has seized Ruben's arm.
"You are hereby under arrest. Please follow us without resistance."
"Why the... Let me go, didn't I just...?"
"Let the boy go, who do you think you are? He liberated us from the elusive murderer."
"Sorry, direct orders from the bishop. He is hereby accused of having murdered the burghess Lady Oblatia."
"What did you say?!"
A bit later that afternoon; a spectrum of light illuminated a small chapel. The bishop walked up and down with a thoughtful look on his wrinkled face, to his side stood one of the city guards.
"Your Excellency-"
"What is it?"
"...we imprisoned the boy, as you had commanded. The girl who was with him insisted on coming along, but she did not seem able to free him or anything the likes and thus we allowed her to stay with him, outside of the cell of course. I assume you will assemble an inquisition?"
"No, sadly. If it can be proven that this woman Oblatia was indeed a demon, it would be impossible to get him punished for disposing of her."
He raised his head and looked at a large crucifix handing on a wall.
"It might be best to keep him locked away for the time being. Not such a large part of the public is aware of what happened yet, and the arrest also went by largely unnoticed. The news that the vampire was supposedly slain will probably spread sooner or later, but with the person having done the deed being out of reach the guilds will not be able to seize the fame for themselves. We cannot dispose of him however, as this would surely grant them the ammunition to denounce us."
"Your orders?"
"Leave him to rot in the gaol for now, we shall see what can be done in due time. Besides, we neither have the confirmation yet that he really did kill Oblatia nor that she actually was the culprit. Perhaps the murders will continue and we can blame the guilds for spreading false news, or something akin to that."
With a bored gesture of his hand, the bishop waved for the soldier to remove himself.
Gradually the busy chatter and trade on the square ceased, and more and more of the people present gathered round or at least listened closely in more or less convinced curiosity.
"The rumour had spread that lady Oblatia, this elusive woman living atop the Liother Ley, was the culprit and what some may call a "vampire". As it turns out, this was indeed the truth. However, fear no more! For she is gone and the curse that had been lying like lead on our city has finally been lifted!"
Nadia watched the scene from behind. Only per accident did her eyes get averted from the gesticulating guild leader continuing his speech of praise for the boy and soothing words for a previously frightened public and fall upon a figure in the background. Exiting the cathedral was the bishop, accompanied by two city guards and walking around the crowd and getting behind Eduart and Ruben. He walked up to and subtly but effectively pushed away the former, seizing his word along the way.
"Indeed, people of Ketherbrühl! 'tis but a day to be praised, for we are now rid of this ungodly demon which has plagued us many nights. See again the fate that awaits those who do not adhere to the path our Lord shows us through the institution of the church! He punishes heretics with most bitter deaths and guides the hands of faithful believers to slay the evil lurking..."
Nadia stopped paying attention to the bloated words of the cleric; one of the armoured guards the bishop had brought along has seized Ruben's arm.
"You are hereby under arrest. Please follow us without resistance."
"Why the... Let me go, didn't I just...?"
"Let the boy go, who do you think you are? He liberated us from the elusive murderer."
"Sorry, direct orders from the bishop. He is hereby accused of having murdered the burghess Lady Oblatia."
"What did you say?!"
A bit later that afternoon; a spectrum of light illuminated a small chapel. The bishop walked up and down with a thoughtful look on his wrinkled face, to his side stood one of the city guards.
"Your Excellency-"
"What is it?"
"...we imprisoned the boy, as you had commanded. The girl who was with him insisted on coming along, but she did not seem able to free him or anything the likes and thus we allowed her to stay with him, outside of the cell of course. I assume you will assemble an inquisition?"
"No, sadly. If it can be proven that this woman Oblatia was indeed a demon, it would be impossible to get him punished for disposing of her."
He raised his head and looked at a large crucifix handing on a wall.
"It might be best to keep him locked away for the time being. Not such a large part of the public is aware of what happened yet, and the arrest also went by largely unnoticed. The news that the vampire was supposedly slain will probably spread sooner or later, but with the person having done the deed being out of reach the guilds will not be able to seize the fame for themselves. We cannot dispose of him however, as this would surely grant them the ammunition to denounce us."
"Your orders?"
"Leave him to rot in the gaol for now, we shall see what can be done in due time. Besides, we neither have the confirmation yet that he really did kill Oblatia nor that she actually was the culprit. Perhaps the murders will continue and we can blame the guilds for spreading false news, or something akin to that."
With a bored gesture of his hand, the bishop waved for the soldier to remove himself.
