Varney the Vampire

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 1814

...and walked down into the hive of tunnels and passages that had been burrowed beneath the age old rock of the mountains above him. The faint light that filtered down the tunnels from the cave mouths was soon lost as Fred made his way deeper into the warren of stone chambers and rocky halls. Soon he was walking through darkness as black as pitch, but he never paused or hesitated. The darkness was no match for his vampire eyes. And although he had never been there before, he somehow knew where he was going.

The trail he now followed opened up slowly onto a huge cavern filled with the looted remains of what was once a vast treasure. Fred stopped and gazed at what was around him. Broken statuary, jumbled trunks and broken boxes, shattered mirrors and torn tapestries filled the great space. A set of stone steps, its marble facade half missing, led his eyes to a mezzanine. Staring down at him from that height was a tall, pale stranger.

"Hello, my son," the stranger spoke, "you have answered my call." Fred felt a wave of joy wash over him. He felt like he had come home. "Do you know my name?" the stranger asked. Fred thought for a moment and then answered, "Varney." Varney's eyes flashed with anger. "Do you know my NAME?" he demanded threateningly. Fred cringed at the voice and then looked up at Varney with understanding. "Master," Fred answered.

Varney smiled, "Good. You have much to learn, young one, but you have taken the first step." Varney glided down the stair to where Fred stood and put his arm around him. "And you are but the beginning. Soon we shall be legion. And you will be my right hand. Oh, the wonderful plans I have in store for us." They made their way to the center of the cavern. "Look around you, and what do you see?" Varney asked Fred.

"Ruin, Master," Fred replied.

Varney nodded sadly. "Yes, but once upon a time this hall was a great and beautiful citadel. It was the heart of the Vampire Dominion. And we were the greatest of the Great Dragon's servants." Fred frowned, he did not know what Varney was speaking of. Varney sat down on a rotting velvet chair and motioned Fred to sit with him. "I forget that the outside world knows nothing of what the Dragon has created here. And you are the first new face I have seen in over one hundred years. The Dragon usually keeps his acquisitions to himself, or else grants them to those minions he favors." Varney thought back to long ago and remembered when it was the Dominion that received the lion's share of the Dragon's favors.

"I was no acquisition," Fred spoke. "I came here of my own will, in order to slay the Dragon."

"Well then it is no wonder that I have you all to myself. If the Dragon had brought you here, you would be in the Gladiator Pit by now, or else transformed into some harmless beast for the Dragon's amusement, or perhaps you would have been given over to the Torturers. But lucky for both of us, you met me instead."

"But what happened to the Dominion," Fred asked.

"War," Varney answered. "You see, the Dragon has created a wonderful little society down here, a patchwork community made up of a hundred competing forces, races and factions. An underworld that is arranged along the lines of a simple hierarchy defined by power and force. The Dragon is at the top, sitting comfortably in the number one position, while everybody else has to fight it out if they want to be in the number two spot. And make no mistake, the only spot worth having is the number two spot. And so these Caves are forever filled with war and battle and intrigue. The humans against the centaurs, the dwarves against the werewolves, the ogres against the satyrs. It never ends. But for a thousand years, the Vampire Dominion was at the top of that pecking order. We were the princes of this nightmare kingdom. We thought we were invincible. Not one of our enemies could defeat us. But then they rose up and destroyed us."

"Who?"

"Everyone." Varney closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were filled with a bright gleam. "But now all that is going to change. No more skulking in the shadows of shadows. No more hiding from the roving gangs of flesh eaters and halfmen, giants and goblins. Together, my friend, we shall remake the Vampire Dominion and then we shall kill them all!" Varney stood up and led Fred to a side corridor. Turning to him, the vampire lord said, "You are not the only fish I have caught of late. There are three more that shall join our ranks today, and you shall do the honors."

  1. Banquet of Blood

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WolfRun

6/11/1999 11:06:56 PM

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