Chapter 10: A Deal with the Enemy

Assar

Assar groaned as He rolled out of his bed. Once he had gotten a good meal followed by a warm bath, he had fallen asleep almost the moment he had reached his room at the Inn. His body was almost completely healed at this point, but he never quite got used to the soreness that came along with the increased rate of healing.

His sword was right next to his bed, he reached out to grab it and pull it from its sheath. He hadn’t had a chance to properly oil and clean the blade after the fight the night before. With a firm grip, he slowly withdrew the sword from its sheath. No matter how many times he saw the weapon, he always smiled slightly at the craftsmanship. For one calling it a sword may have been a bit of a misnomer.

The handle was long enough that he could hold it with both hands, and still have a fist-size space between his hands if he wanted. The blade of the weapon was four feet in length and curved allowing for long cutting blows. Pair that with the long handle, he could use the blade almost like a polearm. The blade wasn’t the best suited for a duel with a humanoid, when it came to fighting giant monsters with claws, and fangs that were many times physically strong than you, it worked wonders. While the runes were not currently glowing, he knew that with a simple activation phrase, they burst with a red light.

He quickly oiled and cleaned the blade before putting it back in its sheath. He then moved over to the small wash bucket, that was filled with cold water. He reached in and splashed a healthy amount of cold water on his face. His eyes widened at the sudden cold feeling of the water, but it did what it was intended to do and woke him up fully.

He glanced up into the mirror and examined himself. The reflection of a man with short black hair and a light brown skin tone looked back at him. Fortunately, his infection hadn’t turned his skin pale like purebloods. His eyes had a permanent reddish hue to them he knew blazed when he drank the blood of vampires. Where he might once have been called handsome, his infection, along with his line of work, had done its best to ruin what would have been a striking face. He had a number of small scars that crisscrossed his face, but two large blemishes dominated the rest. Both courtesy of vampires. The first was four long lines that cut from his right temple, down through his lips, and ended at the bottom of his chin. He had received that wound when he had fought the blood-crazed sanguine. The damn thing had done its best to claw his face off. The wound had nearly killed him, but instead, it had settled for leaving him with a horrible scar.

The second blemish was where he had been bitten as a child. The infection had been stopped soon enough to stop him from turning into a thrall, but the infection still left its mark on his skin. On the left side of his neck, his veins in a rough six-inch circle stood out stark black against his skin. A constant reminder of what he was and what he would always be.

The rest of his body was also covered in various scars ranging from animal bites, claw marks, and even a few scars caused by bladed weapons. He had hard corded muscles, developed by a life spent hunting monsters and traveling by foot.

Still, despite his impressive physique, he hadn’t had much success when it came to romance. His dealing with women generally involved some gold and a quick tumble with a whore who would overlook his scars for the gold. He had found that no matter how many he paid for, they were all the same. In it for the money and nothing more. Most civilized women didn’t want to be associated with him. While some might have been able to deal with the claw slash on his face, the infection scar marking him as a half-blood ended anything else.

“Not much of a looker are you Assar?” He said to himself ruefully as he turned away from the mirror and began to dress.

He didn’t take long to get his clothes and armor back on, then pack up his gear. He had decided to have breakfast in the Inn and then get a move on to the next village or town near him. Hopefully, he could get another contract there.

He made his way downstairs with his hood pulled up. It had become a habit of his to keep it covering his face when he was in public. He signaled the man behind the bar that he wanted a meal and chose the back corner of the room to sit in. His stomach growled impatiently, and Assar smirked at the sound. Even half-blooded monster killers were victims of their own stomachs.

Ten minutes later, a young girl, who Assar assumed was the owner’s daughter walked nervously over to his table carrying a tray of food. He could see her quivering and smelled the fear radiating off her.

He sighed, and tried to make a joke, “It’s alright girl. That food is in far more danger of being eaten by me than you are.”

Instead of the girl being reassured, she dropped the plate in front of him in a panic and rushed back to her father.

“Well, that didn’t go well,” Assar muttered to himself as he turned his attention back to his food. It was a plate of eggs and potatoes. To his hungry stomach, it looked like a feast. Assar was just getting ready to enjoy his meal when his head shot up in recognition of a scent that was wafting in from the doors to the Inn. His eyes narrowed at that smell.

He hissed out one word, “Vampires!”

A few seconds later, two figures walked through the door. They were both heavily clan in rich almost ceremonial armor, they each carried swords sheathed at their hips and shields in their hands. Assar recognized them for what they were immediately. Pure blooded vampires. From the look and smell of them, they were both Sanguine. He had no idea what they were doing outside the blood lands, but he would find out soon enough. Though they weren’t blood-crazed, he knew sanguine purebloods were extremely fast. He may have been able to take them on without blood, but he wouldn’t risk it.

Assar reached down to his belt, quickly pulled out a vial of superior blood, and downed it in one go. The same near-sexual pleasure rushed through him, and his eyes blazed a blood red. Without hesitating, Assar whipped his crossbow out and fired a bolt at a gap in the closet vampire’s amour. The bolt plunged through the gap and lodged in his shoulder. The vampire howled in pain and stumbled back.

His fellow looked at the vampire shocked for a split second, but a split second was all he Assar ever needed. He leapt across the small room and his sword was in his hands in a flash. He roared the activation of the blade, and the runes burst to life. With a quick slice, Assar removed the hand that held the shield. For a split second, the vampire didn’t register what had happened before he screamed in pain. Assar kicked out, throwing him back against the wall. He then turned to the one he shot, and sliced out, severing the muscles in the back of his leg. The enchanted blade cut through the thin leg armor like it was butter, and the vampire collapsed on legs that no longer had musculature control.

The entire sequence took less than five seconds. Assar turned to the vampire whose hand he had removed and held the blazing sword under his chin. The vampire looked up and the expression of superiority he had worn when walking into the room had vanished. Instead naked fear was plain on his face.

“You have three seconds to tell me what you are doing in these lands. If you don’t speak by then, you are dead and I will move on to your companion. One…..Two….Thr-”

“Hold!” came a loud voice from outside the Inn. Assar glanced around and saw another figure entering the Inn. He was a vampire as well but wore more practical amour, which was still decorated in a mix of jewels. This must be the leader.

“Well, it appears everything they say about you is true. Assar, the Sanguine hunter . I have never seen someone handle my men so handedly.”

“Assar turned his blade on the newcomer and growled out, “I make you the same offer, explain your presence, or die.”

The new Vampire smiled, and said, “I am Dimitri of clan Khvostov! Sanguine clan of the blood lands, and I am here for you Assar. I have a job for you.”

Assar still didn’t remove the blade from the throat of the prostrate vampire on the floor, but he was surprised by this vampire's words.

“What makes you think I would work for a vampire? I have hunted your kind for the better part of two decades.”

The vampire leader smiled, “Why because I will make you rich, and-”

“No deal,” Assar growled as he glared at the vampire.

“My friend, you need to let me finish my offer. I will make you rich, as well as give you full access to my clan’s armory to take any enchanted item of your choosing.”

“I said NO DEAL,” Assar was losing his patience and he made to finish off the vampire at his mercy. The vampire's next words brought him up short.

“Also, I am hiring you to kill some vampires.”

That caused Assar to look over at the vampire with interest. He scowled as he saw the satisfied look in the bastard’s eyes. He knew he had dangled a carrot in front of Assar, he would be hard-pressed to refuse.

“Why does a sanguine vampire want to hire a half-blooded human to hunt another vampire?”

The vampire smiled indulgently, “Well you see my clan is in a dangerous situation right now. Our clan leaders were slain by unknown assailants. We know they had to have been vampires, but they also used what we suspect is some sort of monster to aid in their assassination. My brother and step-sister were powerful sanguines, and it would have taken a lot to kill them. We want you to investigate, track, find the culprits, kill them, or deliver them to us so we can deal with them personally.”

Assar didn’t reply for long seconds as he held the gaze of this supposed vampire lord. Assar would never have guessed in a thousand years, that a pureblooded vampire noble from the blood lands would come to him with a contract. If there was one thing he knew about the sanguine clans though, it was that they were exorbitantly rich. Also, their vampiric enchanters rivaled even those of the elves and dwarves. A fortune, paired with an enchanted item of his pick, would be the largest contract he had ever taken before. Still, what really caught his attention was that he would have a chance to hunt a vampire in the heart of the blood lands. Even better he would be paid for it.

Assar made up his mind and asked, “How much?”

“Excuse me?”

“How much gold will you pay me?”

The vampire smiled knowing he had Assar right where he wanted him. “We will pay you five thousand gold coins, plus all your requirements for your investigation will be paid for by the clan while you are contracted with us.”

Assar barely managed to hide his surprise. Five thousand gold coins?! That was a king’s ransom. His sword had been the most expensive item he had purchased, and if he hadn’t taken it as payment for a contract, it would have cost him five hundred gold. This vampire was offering him ten times that amount.

Still, Assar knew that these vampires wouldn’t have traveled all this way to hire him if they weren’t desperate. He could squeeze some more out of them.

“Eight thousand.”

The vampire's smile didn’t falter for a second, in fact, it grew wider as he said, “Come now, Assar, five thousand is a generous offer. But if you insist, I might be able to talk my mistress into offering sixty- five hundred.”

“Seven.”

“You are a man of few words it seems,” the vampire replied with a grin. “I’m afraid the most my mistress will permit is six thousand seven hundred and fifty.”

“Deal! Give me directions and I will make my way into the blood lands.”

The vampire clapped his hands together in satisfaction, and said, “Excellent, however, time is of the essence. We shall travel together in my clan’s gargoyle carriage. My mistress is eager to find the perpetrators.”

“Gargoyle carriage?” Assar asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, you will see my friend! You will see.”