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I enjoy writing, and I enjoy sharing what I have with folks. I suppose that makes me an entertainer of sorts. I hope you can find something of mine that you enjoy and helps pass the time. Leave a comment, or not, the choice is yours.

Jackie @sinfulwolf

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War of the Damned Chapter 9: The Gathering Calm

Posted by sinfulwolf - September 30th, 2010


So. Almost two months since the last chapter of this was posted. I'm sorry for those who've been waiting, and now I kind of know what George R.R. Martin felt when 'A Feast of Crows' was published. To a lesser extent by far of course. Still it's a good feeling to return to this little universe of mine.I like writing here and fuly intend to continue the tale. I hope you all enjoy a return to medieval Europe through the eyes of a vampire.

In other news, been doing more judging than entering any contests lately. So it's not just this tale that's suffered, but all my writing. I seem to have found my groove again though. Life is still hectic but I plan on getting the next chapter out in the first half of October.

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Previous Chapter

Chapter 9: The Gathering Calm

The council had been dismissed, and the knights had left to prepare for their journeys east. Gwenhwyfar and Elishka stayed behind, now kneeling before the elder, who sat in his throne of carved stone, expressionless face looking down at the two knights bowed before him.

"A former queen and an assassin. A traitor and a run away. It is quite the pair that you two make, and now members of the Clan of the Wolf. The task I have given you is of utmost importance, for I believe that an elder of the Rose is assisting Lancelot in the human Holy Lands," he said, voice hardly above a whisper.

"How can just us two defeat an elder my lord?" Elishka asked, head bowed before Asgier.

"Do not think the humans will let the crimes committed against them go unpunished. The greatest armies of the world are already in that desert, waiting to thrust cold steel into flesh. You must bring the reckoning of the Wolf, while the others wage war."

"Then it will be done," Gwenhwyfar said simply, before rising alongside her companion, ready to leave the chamber.

"I have arranged transport for you across the sea, with Amadeo's merchant ships. Leave as soon as you can, and show the Rose the fury of the Wolf."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alan lifted his wine skin to his lips, and felt the last drops of water trickle down his throat. With a curse he strapped the leather pouch back to his belt and continued to ride across the sands beneath the glow of the desert moon.

"The camp is not far. You will be free to take whatever provisions you need. Keep in mind however that our resources are finite," Salaam said, riding beside him.

Alan simply nodded, before glancing over his shoulder. Curtis was behind him, his horse trudging through the sand, laden down with the weapons from the battlefield. The scout captain didn't even acknowledge the knight, he simply stared ahead, his back stiff. The other surviving scouts glanced about nervously, their fists tightened around the reins of their mounts, whilst around them the Saracen soldiers tried to march without looking up at their new allies.

It was insane; that was all Alan could think to himself. Two bitter enemies siding with each other to stop an unholy menace stalking Christian and Muslim alike in the holy lands.

The group steered into a narrow canyon, the smooth rock walls on either side blocking out the moonlight. Alan noticed a man with a bow looking down at him from above, face beneath his turban unseen in the darkness.

"The Afghans. They came here searching for the walking dead, after many of their people were killed in the desert," Salaam said, noting where Alan's eyes continued to look.

"Afghans?" Alan asked, watching the shadowy figure vanish from sight.

"Yes. I admit to not knowing much about their homeland myself. But the ones here are simple nomads who have come to aid us. They are good with a bow, and move quiet as shadows."

"Great, heathen ghosts," Curtis muttered from behind the two.

"It is not the spirits of my people you should fear. But the bodies of everyone's dead."

Curtis mumbled something darkly before going quiet once again. They rode and marched in silence save the clink of their armour with each movement, and the soft whiney of the horses. Within a few minutes however, the walls started to spread out, and two flags were stuck in the ground, the fabric as still in this windless night as the guards standing beneath the banners.

"This is our camp," Salaam said.

"Seems small. Reports said Saladin's army was massive," Alan said, glancing back at Curtis who merely nodded.

"We are not part of the army out here. We are on our own. Come I have something to show you," Salaam said as they strode past the guards into the camp.

There were only a few dozen tents about the small clearing, and no one had lit any fires in an attempt to keep their position hidden. It was quiet, and there were very few people about. Alan assumed the rest of the soldiers were sleeping.

Reaching the centre of camp, a few soldiers came to take the horses. Salaam dismounted and said something to them in Arabic, and Alan followed suit. Curtis and the other scouts seemed hesitant, but eventually did the same. The marching soldiers dispersed amongst the camp, but Salaam beckoned for the Christians to follow him to another tent with two guards posted.

"What is it you're showing us?" Alan asked walking alongside the Saracen.

"Our enemy," he said simply pushing aside the flaps and entering the darkness of the tent.

Alan heard something moving against the back wall before it went deathly quiet. The smell of rotting meat filled his nostrils as he heard his new comrade striking flint until a torch flared to life. Flicking light pushed back the shadows, revealing a man in the heraldry of Du Lac chained to two separate posts against the back wall. His tabard was stained with dried blood and his form was slumped in death. A burlap sack had been pulled over the soldier's head.

"What is this?" Alan demanded, reaching for his blade.

"Still your hand," Salaam said reaching out and pulling the bag free.

The man's face had started to rot away, the lips and gums pulled back in decay to reveal broken and yellowed teeth. An eye was torn out and his skin was cracked open, revealing the glimmer of bone beneath. An arrow was still lodged in the man's neck, the shaft broken off near the dried flesh.

Alan was about to pull his blade free, about to scream treachery, when the man's remaining eye opened and the ghoul let out an ear piercing screech.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The troubadour playing in the corner had a long way to come if he wished to play in any courts. To the drunken patrons of the nameless tavern however, he was more than skilled enough. As his fingers plucked at his lute, struggling to find the right notes, his voice cracking as he tried to sing, those deeper into the cups overpowered his soft voice with lilting and vulgar voices.

Andrzej ignored it, simply content alone at his table to drink his ale and sop up his greasy stew with stale bread. No one bothered him, though he wondered if that had as much to do with the sword and crossbow sitting carefully by his side as their own courtesy.

Pain flared in one of his teeth on the right side of his jaw as he bit into the bread, and he let out a quiet curse drowned out by the noise of the inn. He probed at the pain with his tongue for a moment before letting out another low curse in Polish and dragging the bread through the stew on his plate, picking up thin strings up meat.

When the door opened, letting in the night air, no one took notice. A cloaked man made his way through the crowd, pulling his brown robes tight around his form, before finally making his way to Andrzej's table. One of the two serving girls working, both presumably the thin emaciated inn keeps daughters, came up to the table as the man sat himself opposite Andrzej.

Her young face was scarred from acne and her gray dress was spotted with stains. From what Andrzej could only guess, she did a little work in the rooms for rent above.

"Another mug," he said in broken Italian, and his guest simply shook his head before pulling back his cowl to reveal a closely shaven head. The kind of shave that only the rich or monks had, and this man did not appear to have much gold to his name.

As the girl wandered back to the bar Andrzej turned his attention finally to the bald man, who was now fidgeting with a wooden cross between his fingers.

"Are you Andrzej Mikula?" the stranger asked cautiously.

For a moment there was only the sound of the tavern, as the Polish mercenary watched the man opposite him, trying to get a read on him. He moved the lump of now soggy bread to the other side of his mouth to try and reduce the pain in his tooth.

"I am. What do you need?" he finally said.

"I am Brother Davide. I've been sent here to find you and hire your... services," the monk said, dipping his voice so low at the last word that Andrzej had to strain to hear him.

"I'm very specific about my services these days. Gold up front as well."

"We have reason to believe that there is movement coming down from the north. The undead are on the move."

"And why should I care? I'm in Italy tracking one, and his head is rather important to me."

"We need your help, you can stop the same tragedy that befell you from happening to someone else," the monk pleaded desperately.

Letting out a harsh laugh, Andrzej took a swig of his ale and slammed the empty mug back on the table, looking through the inn for the serving girl.

"Why should I give a shit about anybody else?"

Davide frowned and reached into his robes, pulling free a purse that chinked with a sound very familiar to Andrzej's ears. Picking up the small bag, the mercenary felt the weight, using his thumb to help count the coins within. He had no wish to spill them on the table to reveal any type of wealth to this crowd.

"Now you're speaking my language. So tell me, where do I find these monsters," Andrzej said, leaning back in his chair.

The monk pushed a scroll across the table, nestling it beside the nearly finished plate of food.

"All the details are there. Make sure it is done," the monk said before standing up and leaving the tavern.

Andrzej smirked as he tucked both the purse and the scroll into a small satchel. There was some killing to do.

Next Chapter

War of the Damned Chapter 9: The Gathering Calm


Comments

this week just keeps getting better and better.

I'm liking the story even more now, i got a feeling this is gonna get bloody, just how i like it

Glad to hear your week is going well.

And yes, this should get quite blood. There will be a reckoning.

You choose where to end your chapters well :)

Also, definitely for adults? Is there like sexual scenes or explicit language everywhere?

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey, guess how I'm feeling now? :P

New entry! I had to refrain myself from yelling. What I put up above was the reaction I stopped myself from doing once I saw a message from you. No jokes either. :)

Anyway, review time!

All of my senses are at unease as great bloody confrontations draw nearer. And I love it. Though I kind of have to question the Elder's choice to send just Elishka and Gwen to deal with Lancelot, because it had been speculated that Lancelot wasn't the only one doing the rampaging. And unless I'm mistaken, he's a force to be reckoned with if blades are crossed with him. So, either I'm underestimating the girls or there was something I missed when the Elder said "The greatest armies of the world are already in that desert, waiting to thrust cold steel into flesh. You must bring the reckoning of the Wolf, while the others wage war." What exactly did he mean by that?

Good lord, your description of the undead soldier was unnerving. Brr, that just shook me...

I don't know if you have different plans for Andrezj, but to me, he just sounds like cannon fodder. Maybe there's a good reason for him to be, but I kind of hope he has good back story. Because just some random guy who can kill Vampires would rather tick me off. Granted, I don't think you would be one to do that, but you have worried me a tad...

All in all, a decent chapter. Because we now have so many characters to follow, it's gonna get hairy, especially for anyone new to this. I trust you'll deliver when it comes the time. But, as your stuff goes, this was a little slower.

Oh well, you aren't God, so I don't expect perfection. But there are those days when you have made me wonder... XD
I kid, I kid. :P

Looking forward to chapter 10,
-DarkX.

Glad you get excited whenever a new chapter arises. I promise the next won't be nearly as long away as this one was.

As for the Elder, I think you may be indeed underestimating the girls. Gwenhwyfar is a highly accomplished warrior, and Elishka is no slouch either. Yes Lancelot is quite the fighter, but he's not unstoppable. However, and perhaps I didn't explain this clearly enough which is my fault, most of the Wolf Clan (which is smaller than the Rose Clan to begin with) is heading elsewhere to fight. Also, the elder's words on the greatest armies of the world is in reference to the Third Crusade happening.

I did try to do something grotesque and disturbing with that undead soldier. I'm happy it worked.

I wouldn't give him much a name if he was just cannon fodder. He is another glimpse into the human side of all this, and another faction coming into play. He does have a backstory that I'm still tweaking a bit to seem less cliche, but he does have one. Note that pretty much anyone in this story that's human and hunts vampires have had some experiences with them in the past. I also want to use Andrzej as a glimpse into Medieval life through the eyes of someone who isn't a noble or an undead creature.

Glad you liked the chapter, and yes it is slower, however compared to Blood of the Damned, this entire story is much slower. I feel that I've been able to fit better characters and more plot into this slower pace and just have the reader pull more from the entire read. However as we begin to reach the climax things could get much more brutal than Blood had even dreamed of.

Hope to have chapter 10 out soon.

Hmm, sorry for underestimating you girls. Looking back, the Elder's statement makes a little more sense. And it's also partially my error for kind of not taking into account the weird speech patterns of literary elderly characters, shoulda looked at it a little more the first time.

The note that the encampment scene left us on has me worried as to what the turn out will be come next chapter...

Oh man, didn't even realize that you didn't have a perspective from the so to speak peasantry of that age. Gad, I feel dumb. But then again, that's why you're writing this, eh? ;) I now feel a little more confident in your choice to add Andrezj, and apologize for questioning it.

Also looking back, something looks awkward. "From what Andrzej could only guess, but he assumed she did a little work in the rooms for rent above." Maybe I'm misreading something...?

Anyhow, thanks for answering my questions and removing my doubts. :)

Sincerely,
DarkX.

PS: I have to go now, but sometime soon, I'm gonna send a PM. I need some help with Guardian again. And you would be the prime person to go to for the answers I need. I'll try to send tonight or tomorrow.

It's not a problem, people tend to underestimate folks once in awhile. And yeah, I purposely made the Elder's speech patterns a little old fashioned and strange.

Always good to keep my reader base a little on edge. Makes them want to read more.

Glad you see why I added him. It was also partially to add in a character from yet another nation. I have Welsh, English, Norse, German, Italian, Egyptian... and now in this chapter an Afghan and a Pole.

Hmm... you're right that sentence does look somewhat awkward. I was trying to imply that she's also a prostitute, but I should try and rework that sentence a bit. Thanks for pointing that out.

Yer welcome.

And I'll be waiting for it. Hope I can help.

Oh I understood the implication just fine. It's the but that's unnecessary. If that's out, it will look fine.

Anyhow, I'm just sending from college, waiting for my bus. I'll send the private message either later tonight or tomorrow. But I doubt about tonight, I'm going to see some friends, so just a heads up.

In the meantime, here's the link!
<a href="http://evermint.webs.com/">http://evermint.webs.com/</a>
Can't wait to chat with you! :D

Sincerely,
DarkX.

Ah, I see it now. I changed it up, see how that looks. Mind was working at a different speed than my fingers and eyes and there was a jumbled mess. Oh well, hopefully this looks better.

Heh, waiting for the bus... not so fun times. I'll be waiting for the PM though, and I'll help you however I can.

Thanks for the link, should be interesting.

wow i suck for not reading the other chapters i suck :(

Well you don't suck. There's a hefty amount there and it's growing. However you are missing out on a lot of content that will let things fall into place and make more sense if you read the other chapters.

i read the other chapters and i gotta ask,are you actually a soldier or a marine?

I was a soldier yes. I recently got out of the military. Why do ye ask?

i actually found out when i was reading comments in your news post.

Ah. Yes one can learn a bit from them.

It sounds kinda interesting...

Wasn't it fantasy?

I like reading fantasy, though.