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I awoke from my dream feeling the warm sunlight against my skin. I was the first to wake, but the others woke up not too long after.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Tar asked me.

“I feel ok, definitely better than a few nights ago.” I answered.

“That’s good.” he replied.

We had something small to eat, we wanted to hurry as quick as we could so that we can reach Krowborne. We packed up after we finished and resumed our journey to our destination. We traversed over a small hill that was not too far from where we camped. The sky was clear, with only the sun in the sky shining upon us.

“Can't believe we are already here.” Tar said.

“Same.” Zarok responded.

“Just a bit further and we'll be one step closer to whatever we have to do for the prophecy.” I added as we kept moving getting nearer and nearer to Krowborne Citadel. The further we went the more uneasy I felt. This seemed too easy. Everything seemed to go according to plan, just a straight shot. I wasn't alone with this feeling. Dellor was looking around with a look that matched how I was feeling. Not saying a word, I placed my hand in his shoulder which he looked at me and knew that he wasn't alone with how he felt. Tar and Zarok remained in that calm adventurous spirit that Dellor and I lacked. However, that all changed as we saw a small camp with a few people sitting down.

“Bandits.” Dellor exclaimed.

“Don't worry Del, we got this.” Tar responded. “Just a few bandits, and honestly they don't look like the smartest bunch.” he added.

“I hope you're right.” said Dellor still uncertain.

“We should take some extra precautions though just in case. I mean anything could happen, just look at Zarok.” I said trying to lighten the mood.

“Hey, what's that supposed to mean?! Zarok yelled out. The rest of us began to laugh, making everything seem just a bit better. Dellor seemed in a better mood, and I can assume he like me is taking this a bit differently than before. Although, there was still one problem. The bandits. Tar, took it into his own hands and quickly devised a plan to take them out. The plan was questionable due to the camp being inhabited by seven individuals. Four of them male, three female. Six of them were lightly armored while one, wore a more durable set of armor. It seemed he was by observation the leader of this small group. The plan Tar thought up was simple enough, hide anywhere we could, then get close enough and hopefully knock them out. I did ask if we could just go around them somehow. Well…that question was answered as we saw the bandits in the distance take notice of us. They drew their weapons and began charging at us. Within moments they were close enough to where we had no choice but to face them

We drew out our weapons readying ourselves for the incoming attack. I started to feel strange. The voice, his voice I can hear him. The voice echoed in my mind like it did before in the woods. Why now?! Out of any time why now? I couldn't focus on anything. I felt like I was in a dream but that soon ended when I felt a spark deep inside me. Something inside me was awakened by a reason I knew not. My fears, my joy, gone. I felt nothing except a sense of calm like that of a tranquil sea. I was in a trance like state and all I could hear was the one voice, but now I heard seven new voices enter, echoing in my head all waiting for a purpose. Memories that were not my own and new knowledge flooded my mind, soon becoming a part of me. The voices went silent as I broke out of whatever was happening to me. Now, I could hear was silence as I looked at the faces of my friends.

They looked as though they've seen a ghost….

“Guys?” I whispered to them. They just stared, not responding.

I took notice of my hands and arms. They were pale like before, like in the woods. The dark veins present as well, but this time something else happened. As I focused more on my surroundings, I was a short distance in front of them. I was confused because I do not recall moving.. At my feet, were the bodies of the band of bandits, all being the same breed of anthro-reptilians who were now fully pale which contrasted from their original color, and the darkness like mine covered them. It spread to either their legs, necks, arms, and faces. However, from what I saw, the one place they all had in common was the hands. They were like mine. I looked at my blade seeing it was covered in blood although on the bodies there was no evidence of any form of attack.

“What did I do?” I asked confused. They didn't answer right at first but Zarok spoke a moment later.

“We don't know…” he said looking fearful before he continued speaking. “ The bandits were about to attack us but you just went up to them, like they would not be able to do anything to you.”

“Your hands turned though.” Dellor said.

“Not just your hands but all of you.” said Zarok. “You were pale as Death, but it seems its gone now.” He added pointing at my arms that were now normal again.

“But how did I kill them? They have no wounds yet I have blood on my blade.” I asked.

“You stabbed them and slashed their throats, but before you killed them or they were going to die, you touched their faces, near their necks and then they started to turn like you and the wounds healed…” Tar responded in a worried tone.

“What happened? What did you feel?” Zarok asked concerned about my well being.

“I don't know. All I remember was seeing the bandits coming at us from the camp before I started feeling like I did when I held Carcor’s mask. My mind wandered and all my emotions were gone. I didn't feel like me.”

“That is strange, really strange.” said Zarok, responding to what I had said.

“Yeah, but whatever it is, you're going to be ok.” Tar said which changed how we all felt. “We should get going, our quest isn't going to complete itself.” We agreed and continued our way to destination. Zarok and Tar were ahead of me, but Dellor stayed back with me.

“You don't look well.” said Dellor.

“It's just..”

“Just what?” he asked.

“Remember how I was able to know who Carcor was, and knew all about him, his memories and such?” I asked, and Dellor nodded.”Well.. when I killed those bandits… the same thing happened.”

“With all of them?” he asked. I responded with a nod. “I'm sorry. I promise you we will figure out what's happening. We'll look into it when we return, along with mister Carcor’s helmet. We we figure it out Keith.” Dellor said trying his best to make me feel better.

Within moments we arrived at the base of the citadel. There stood a tall gate made of stone and metal. The metal was the base of this giant door but the stone inlay formed what looked like a tree. This place looked like a castle, a elegant yet strong palace.

“How do we get in? Is there like a secret knock or something?” Tar asking Dellor who let out a slight chuckle.

“That would be nice but sadly no. From what I read, the gods chose a more difficult approach but for us it will not be a problem.”

“How so?” I asked?

“Well, this sanctuary was built for the prophecy, for the offspring of the Chosen. Therefore, what better way to open this divine structure than using the Chosen themselves?” Dellor replied.

“That's good and all but how?” Tar asked.

“Well… all he has to do is touch the door.” he responded.

“Seriously?” Tar said in disbelief.

I walked up to the giant gate, looking at what stood before me. I was in awe with all of this. To know, that this was built for something much greater created by beings far powerful than myself. I would never believe that I would be the one all of this was meant for. To be honest, I still find all of this hard to believe even though this was all indeed real. I guess no matter if I believe it or not, this is what it is, nothing less and it feels...right. I reached out placing my hand on to the gate feeling the textures of stone and metal. I felt a sense of peace from this connection, and that's when it began to make a loud sound like a lock being undone. I stepped back, standing with the others watching the door open up before us. When the opening of the gate concluded, we walked in taking in all of the beauty of the interior. It seemed to be as they would say, “Heaven on Earth”. Long hallways, corridors, elegant staircases which I assume to led to other areas of the citadel. Everything was so beautiful, various plants, paintings, light fixtures like chandeliers, suits of armor lining some of the walls. There was so much, words dial to describe all that is here. However, what caught all of our attention the most was at the center of the room upon entering the structure. A statute depicting a dragon's head, but at what would be the forehead of the dragon head was a gemstone, jet black, cut in the shape of a teardrop.

“So it is true, the statue created by Zinthil herself.” Dellor said as we all walked up to the unique statue. “Zinthil is the goddess of safe travel. It was rumored that she created only a few of these statues in the mortal realm. This statue will allow us as I read to safely send your offspring and anyone including ourselves here safely within a blink of an eye.”

After hearing this, I couldn't help but wanting to examine the statue more closely. Deep down something wanted me to touch the gemstone. As I did, I felt a slight pinch.

“Ouch!” I said pulling my hand away seeing that my finger was bleeding. I didn't have any time to really focus on the cut since the gem began to light up, bringing more life and light into the sanctuary.

“Vara must have been a part of this too. Very curious.” Dellor said.

“Wait, are you saying that what I think are real...are real?” Tar asked.

Dellor didn't answer at first since his attention was on the gemstone, but I asked him who Vara was. Luckily he did pull his attention away to answer both of our questions.

“Well, Vara is not exactly a god but in shortest terms a force of nature given the knowledge of blood magic by Sheagas, the god of curses, dark magic, along with at times being known as the god of revenge and blood pacts. And yes Tar, by the looks of things, it would mean they are real…” Dellor concluded.

“What are real?” I asked.

“...Vampires.” Tar responded still trying to process this information.

“We shouldn't worry about it though since all ‘encounters’ have been rumors. However, we should celebrate because we have officially reclaimed Krowborne Citadel.” Dellor added. “Since nothing can be done here for now, we should return home and get some rest. Especially you Keith.” he said.

I nodded, and we all decided it was time to go now. We took in our surroundings one last time before placing our hands on the the dragon head, teleporting us outside of Zarok’s castle. Our quest complete, but the journey is far from over. Today was the end of one of many chapters in our story, but for now it's time to rest and see what lies ahead.