Shadow and Mist - The Dhampir's Last Infiltration

This is part of the Community Engagement Challenge: https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-community-engagement-challenge-theme-explore-and-expand-splinterlands-lore-sqyarl

Prologue

Splinterlands is a fantasy game - so lore can't miss out. I personally like to mix real-life issues with the SPL-Set-Up, but sometimes it's nice to just click on a random card and let the words flow. This time, the mouse chose the Dhampir Infiltrator - not the worst pick. I hope you enjoy my fan fiction!

The Infiltration

A shiver suddenly ran down the guard’s spine. She spun around, just to stare into the twilight. The mist seemed disturbed, but nothing was visible. The guard stood still, waiting for the source of disturbance to reveal itself, but nothing happened. Whatever had been there, was gone. But there was something. The guard whispered a message into the mist, not an alarm, but a note of caution for the rest of the Water Castle.

The Dhampir Infiltrator was holding up to the ceiling just a few feet down the hallway. It wasn’t an easy task, the constant moisture favored the growth of algae, turning the old stones into more of a slide than a hallway. Not that the sea creatures minded, on the contrary. And it did offer some protection from lesser skilled infiltrators.

The Prey

Without noise, the Dhampir crawled on, following the smell of its prey. Hellondale was sleeping, she could sense it. Against what most people thought, sleeping prey is not that easy to take down. The easiest prey is the one that is distracted, and turning their back, presenting many weak points to the shadows. But sleeping prey was protected by the soil, and most skilled fighters had a sense for dangerous situations – and they never slept without at least two weapons.

It wasn’t soon after that the Dhampir reached the room. Hellondale was indeed sleeping. The room didn’t offer much protection. It had to be head on. Without much further thought, the dagger was sent on its way, fast, and found its way into the warm flesh – of a hand. Hellondale didn’t waste time, pulled the dagger and directly threw it back to the point of origin, but the dhampir had disappeared. Hellondale reached for his sword, it was gone. So was the his own dagger. He pulled the short sword from the scabbard on his back.

The Beast

“More than two…” he heard a whisper giggling. Another dagger came out of nowhere, and he barely managed to divert it – but he could feel the pure strength of the throw going through his very bone. The pain was bearable, though constant. Anyway, what choice did he have? He sharpened his mind and started diverting energy into his bleeding hand, but it wouldn’t stop. Something was keeping the wound open unnaturally, and the blood was flowing without any coagulation. He knew now.

With a sudden move, light was everywhere, and window blew open, the alarm was triggered the same moment that he felt the shadow move. He raised his sword just in time to have it shatter under the force of the attack, and his arm break in many pieces. The pain was now excruciating. Still no choice. Pull through until the guards arrive. He was able to divert the next attack with magic, but was now back to the wall, trying to uphold his concentration and with it the magical protection. It seemed like the shadows were swirling, something was running back and forth, fast, distracting. Suddenly the shadow came close – and stopped. The Dhampir became visible. A pink glowing sword stuck out of her chest. Surprise and anger in her eyes did not last long, as her head exploded in a magic glow.

The Deus-ex-Mist

“A Dhampir!” said Captain Fellblace. “Sneaky little basterds, aye. Always forget to cover their backs, though. With all them dragon blood, yet they ain’t no smarter, are they now? Or maybe the blood boosts their ego, makes them cocky? Questions for another day, aye, mate? With a pint? You look like you could use one.” She laughed wholeheartedly and swiped some Dhampir-head-debris from her face and lit one of her famous smokesticks.

Hellondale sank to the ground, gasping. The pain was everywhere now. The blood was still running out of his hand like a river. He grinned. Those who can still do bad word plays about themselves, are not to die soon.

“Oy, mate, you don’t look so good now, do ya?" She blew some smoke into his face. "Better get a one of em Soothsayers. Them Merdaali are fine healers, but that does look more like a cleansing job, first - the Dhampir's blade is covered in their spit, once cut, your blood won't stop flowing until it's dry like a bone."

The guards had arrived now, and laid Hellondale on his blankets in order to carry him quickly every move of his body was accompanied by the crackling sound of what were bones before. A mist message was sent.

“Oy, mate. Just in case – saving lives ain't cheap. Usually not my business, either, quite the contrary - so it comes with an additional fee. And favors. Yeah, mate, there will be favors. Be a good lad now, will ya, and survive!” Fellblade laughed. Hellondale grinned, and regretted it instantly. Then he fainted.

Thank you very much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it at least as much as I enjoyed writing :-D If you have any comments or feedback - please let me know! And don't forget to leave your own posts for me to curate. Thank you very much!

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