Valerik stalked the dark alley's of the quant town, waiting the arrival of his mercenary companion. Him and Ladislaus had joined forces this day to earn the sum of money that they had been promised: only if they completed the task they had been assigned. Both of them had been approached separately by their employer, a middle aged duke. Unlike Valerik's normal royal company, this duke was not crooked, silver tongued, or malicious.

He was genuinely normal, requesting the aid of a vampire. It seemed this man truly wanted his daughter, at no cost would he sacrifice her life. Valerik clearly remembered the meeting the two organized.

[i]Valerik was entering the mighty hall of the duke. The middle aged man himself sat at the center, slowly munching upon a platter of grapes dismally. Valerik approached, surprised by the man's reaction. He was not intimidated by the unholy presence of the vampire in his throne room. He lifted his head, giving Valerik a toothy grin. "Find my daughter," he said melancholy, "A group of bandits took her to Estolad, forcing ransom upon me. They arranged a meeting with me, asking for three hundred thousand gold pieces. Go to the meeting in my place, kill every last bastard in their. Leave none of them alive!" he roared with fury and despair.

Valerik nodded, accepting the map that one of his servants handed him. He walked out of the mighty hall, leaving the man to weep alone in silence.[i]

Valerik nervously gazed up at the moon, noticing its high position in the sky. "Where are you Ladislaus?" he whispered to himself. They had to be at the abandoned barn outside of Estolad at midnight. Valerik predicted it was already ten. He side, waiting patiently for him, smacking the map nervously on his hand, tapping his foot impatiently.

(My keyboard is acting weird, expect some missing letters.)

Ladislaus stood in the hall of the grand building, looking at the duke sitting in front of himself. He had white hair, and had a look of worry in his eyes. A look of sorrow and fear. The man tried to wipe the look from his face, attempting to look serious and not emotionally concerned. "Ladislaus, I've heard a fair bit about you. Supposedly you are a good mercenary, so I have decided to hire you for a small job. My daughter had been abducted by a group of savage bandits, and taken to Estolad. I want you to go and, well... kill every last one of them."

Ladislaus was a bit shocked at the bluntness of this assignment. Typically, his employers at least attempted to show mercy and regret for what they had to do. Ladislaus liked this man's style though. He didn't try to dodge away from what he was truly doing. He was in fact, paying to have people killed, but he remained straight-forward about it.

"Under no cirumstances shall my daughter be hurt. If you must choose, let them escape and rescue my daughter. She is the only priority of this mission. Oh, and you are working with someone who you just so happen to know. Valerik. He will be waiting for you on the outskirts of Estolad, so do not keep him waiting. Ladislaus nodded, and departed from the room, going over the previous conversation in his head.

Soon, he reached Estolad, and saw a familiar face. Valerik was standing by a nearby home, tapping his foot impatiently. Ladislaus approached the vampire, "Good evening, Valerik. I assume you are ready assault the bandits now, so shall we begin?"

Valerik gazed up at the moon, watching the clouds drift slowly in front of it, causing what little light the night had to offer retreat away. But soon the clouds moved away, allowing more light to pass. It seemed like most of the clouds had been swept away from previous gusts, and now it was a cloudless night. The moon shone hard upon the ground, trying its hardest to match the brightness of the sun. The village was radiated by the pale glow, each building groaning from the wind pulling the ancient structures.

At last, Ladislaus came up to Valerik at the edge of the village. Valerik straightened his posture, coming up to him with a smile. His eagerness to complete the mission, to come to bloodshed, was apparent on his face. He drew his blade, making sure to keep it in a completely non offensive manner. The lightning hissed as it crawled up and down the steel, the blue substance licking the air. The crisp static permeated the night time humidity, making the moisture evaporate. "This," Valerik said, swinging it across the air, "is my new blade, the Lightning Blade. It is my pride and joy," Valerik said, as if it was a trophy.

"I thought you might of wanted to meet my new weaponry," Valerik said with a proud smile. "We should hurry," he said, looking up at the high moon, "As you may know, we need to find this place by midnight, and perhaps ambush the captors of this daughter," he said, reseathing his sword, replacing his look of enjoyment with a somber glare. He unraveled the map, reading the instructions. The abandoned farm house were they were to be meeting was on the opposite side of town, at the edge.

"If we wish to get their swiftly, we should cut through the village, but then we risk getting seen," he said, pointing at his map, "Or we could take some time to go around the perimeter of the village, and then hopefully get a surprise advantage," he said, pointing around the circular village. "Or the third and least likely option would to search for my ash dragon, and hope we find him in time and use him to kill all of the bandits," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "I think we should go around the village, a sneak attack being best," Valerik said, nodding his head. "We can't be certain on how many bandits their will be," he said, worried that they might be outnumbered.

Valerik drew his blade, and Ladislaus knew it wasn't the scimitar he had once wielded. It crackled with magic energy, radiating silver and blue electricity which hissed down the blade. It was obviously enchanted, and expensive. The vampire took a swing with it, though his target was merely the nighttime air, and boasted "This, is my new blade, the Lightning Blade. It is my pride and joy."

Ladislaus gave him a look which clearly said 'Why do I care?', and the vampire defended, "I thought you might of wanted to meet my new weaponry." Changing the subject, Valerik soon switched to a conversation which had more to do with the task at hand. "As you may know, we need to find this place by midnight, and perhaps ambush the captors of this daughter." As he spoke, the vampire revealed a scraggly piece of parchment, which upon closer examination, appeared to be a map.

"If we wish to get there swiftly, we should cut through the village, but then we risk getting seen. Or we could take some time to go around the perimeter of the village, and then hopefully get a surprise advantage. Or the third and least likely option would to search for my ash dragon, and hope we find him in time and use him to kill all of the bandits. I think we should go around the village, a sneak attack being best. We can't be certain on how many bandits there will be."

"Yes, I agree. We should try to remain unnoticed for as long as possible. The more of an advantage we can give to ourselves in this, the better. Now let's hurry, before they notice us!" Ladislaus said, quickly starting towards the forest on the outskirts of town, and motioning for Valerik to follow.

"Yes, I agree. We should try to remain unnoticed for as long as possible. The more of an advantage we can give to ourselves in this, the better. Now let's hurry, before they notice us!" Valerik nodded in agreement, somewhat pleased that both mercenaries had the same tactical standpoint. Honor was not the mercenary code, but rather to defeat enemies in any tactic necessary, whether it meant head to head combat or assasination.

Ladislaus started around town, motioning for Valerik to follow. The vampire obliged, swiftly jogging to their destination. Already, the moon beat down upon the earth below, the pale rays illuminating their way. The outskirts of the village followed them, small buildings to their right. Already, they were making good progress, and yet they still had very little time left. It was approximately eleven thirty, meaning the party had to pick up the pace, and hurry to rescue this woman.

Valerik peered ahead, trying to see through the thickening darkness. But after much squinting, he was able to make out a ruined structure. It seemed to be painted red, with a very tall roof. The building was collapsed, in a dilapidated heap. But Valerik was able to make this out as... a barn! Dark clothed figures were starting to assemble around the center. Two of the goons carried a thrashing bag, probably the daugher. Valerik motioned Valerik to stop, pointing at the men. They were facing the exit of the town, the area Valerik and Ladislaus would of been if they cut straight though the city. But now they had the advantage, they could catch them off guard. Each carried a metal weapon, whether it was an axe or sword, it was rusty. Valerik sighed, drawing his blade. "I'll charge when you do," he whispered incrediably soft.