6 Welcome to Lordan swamp

I got awake several hours later, my internal clock telling me it's time to resume the chase. Sitting up, I relish a rare moment of calm, even in the midst of the chaotic scene around me. What had been a living ground for nature is now marred with the blood of yesterday's adversaries and other unpleasantness. Judas is still sleeping, but the food I left next to him is gone. He must have woken hungry and eaten it while i slept.

With a sigh, i carefully lift my belong and also my judas , and all, and hoist it onto my back. I reach down and retrieve my blade gripping it tightly and feeling very relieved to have my primary weapon back in my hand. I gather all my materials, returning to the path made by the demon's trail of destruction. After several minutes of walking, the trail disappears. For some reason, the demon has opted to cover his tracks.

As i stand still, trying to figure out my path, my newly-acquired necklace suddenly glows an earthy green and fly towards the northeast. So that's what mysterious charm is, then: a blood charm! I knew it! Blood charms are essentially magic devices. They are attracted to supernatural entities or dark magic users. In addition, they are virtually indestructible and a very valuable asset to any hunter.

No wonder the weird witch commented when i liberated it. The violent tug of the charm seems too strong for even a demon's presence. It could be something entirely different, or even that something combined with the demon. This is wonderful. Now what? According to local rumor, there is a vampire named Lord Starlung dwelling nearby. He owns an odd looking castle surrounded by the LORDAN swamp.

Perhaps the demon has taken refuge in the vampire's lair, or perhaps he only means to stall me as before, with the assassins. Of course, no adventure is complete without a vampire. And i HATE vampires. Well, at least now i have the perfect opportunity to hit two sirens with one stone, as it were.

Calculating the routes to the vampire's tower, i decide that there are three viable alternatives. The forest is secluded but dense, and I aren't really equipped to fight off dangerous beasts. Following the trail, on the other hand, is straightforward, but paths in this forsaken part of the country are often watched by bandits.

Finally, there is a geyser field. It's the most direct route and I won't encounter beasts or bandits there, but there are active spouts and boiling water hidden beneath thin crusts of earth. While it would allow Judas some more much-needed rest, even with caution and precision i'd need a bit of luck to cross safely.

Since Judas's species is actually nocturnal, he curls up gratefully and falls asleep at once. I hear him snoring peacefully as i trudge down the trail. Before long, my wandering thoughts are broken by the sound of an argument. Years as a hunter have taught me caution. I remove my backpack and set it gently behind a nearby tree as the quarrellers ascend a small hill and spot me at once.

I see a red-haired swordsman, a woman with a crossbow, and a short, scruffy man who whips out a wicked-looking knife. Ah, my favorite people: bandits.

"Look what we've got here, friends!" hollers the swordsman. He turns to me, sword raised, and threatens, "This is my unlucky day, hunter!"

I sigh deeply. He's spotted my badge, so things are going to go the way these things always do. He waves the claymore, yelling, "I suppose you thought you'd bounty us, eh? Well, we've got another idea!"

With that, he charges forward, the thief at his heels, with the woman levelling her crossbow.

I made up my mind i'll defeat these bandits from a distance with my rifles.

I pull out my rifles, shooting the bullet expertly one after another towards the bandits. The swordsman yells something derogatory and deflects one throw, but my first and third shots catch him in his calf and shoulder. The smaller man dives to one side, but in his scramble over the uneven ground he trips and dislocates his ankle. As he tries to crawl away, one of the bullet lodges in his other calf and he gives up, collapsing to lie flat on the ground. I turn to confront the bandit with the crossbow, but a searing pain suddenly rips through my shoulder.

An arrow passes swiftly, ripping a chunk of flesh away as it grazes my body. I grit my teeth, blood soaking my clothes as i pivot towards her. She is loading her crossbow with a new bolt. Tensing, I spring towards her, weaving back and forth to evade her bolts. I use a tree to my advantage and come up beside her, raising my blade and resting at her neck.

Cursing, the thin woman swings her crossbow at you, grunting, "Go to the underworld!"

Swiftly ducking below the weapon, i start to jab at her ribs with my blade, but she moves closer, a dagger catching the afternoon light. I dodge swiftly but the blade catches my shoulder. I grit my teeth in pain, but carry on undaunted. As she straightens, I crouch down and lunge forward. Grabbing her legs, i neatly lift her into a double-leg take-down and slam her into the ground with a thud.

I then drag her back to where her defeated comrades lay. Kneeling beside them,i quickly go through their belongings.

Other than their weapons, which are poorly made and not useful at all, i find little more than a coin or two on each of them. Im almost sorry for them, but drop the few coins into one of my pockets anyways. Judas flutters his wings curiously beside me, asking, "What are we going to do with them?"

"Well, the most practical option is to leave them here. Death is certainly what they'd deserve. Either way, though, they're obviously not a threat whether on their feet or out cold on the ground. Still, leaving them alive doesn't necessarily mean I have to just tie them up. We could take all their belongings and toss them in a stream. We could even strip them down. It's not as if they'd have left us anything if we were laying there.

What do you think, Judas?"

Nodding thoughtfully, my companion responds, "Well, I'm really looking forward to humiliating them."

I decided to tie them up and leave them. They seem like they've been down on their luck for a very long time.

Drawing a length of rope from my bag, i methodically lay the unconscious criminals against a wide-trunked tree. One of them groans, stirring, so i quickly bind them to the tree. I toss their weapons in a stream that bubbles through the nearby thicket. Standing up with a sigh, i and my apprentice resume our journey.

To break the silence, i try to initiate conversation a few times, but Judas seems too worried about the task ahead to really respond very much. Fortunately, the rest of our expedition is uneventful. Before long, the path before me forks off in two directions. One leads towards a nearby city called LORDAN, the other towards our current destination.

The neglected path is nearly hidden by creeping vegetation. As we walk between the brambles, the trees start to thin and the ground becomes marshy. I eventually find myself in a stagnant body of standing water that reeks with rot, a swamp transformed into a graveyard. Bloated corpses line the perimeter, protruding from the swamp and creating a terrible stink.

Nearly hurling whatever is left in my empty stomach, i try to hurry through the bog, but every step coats my clothe in thick muck and other unmentionable things, causing me to wrinkle my nose in disgust. I step out of the graveyard and continue towards the castle, outlined on the pinnacle of a hill above the swamp. There are fewer trees here, but the woods are clearly ancient.

Huge trunks rise around me, culminating in tangled, knobby branches, and moss dangles from the limbs. I pull out a candle and lighter, lighting the candle's wick with a deft gesture. The familiar, cleansing smell of the incense calms me greatly.

Heading up the hill towards the vampire's home, I soon find myself in an dark entryway, marked with intricate designs on the cobblestone floor. I cannot see any signs of either the demon or the vampire, but my pendant glows a muddy green. At least one of them must be here, somewhere, inside or on the castle grounds.