The frost lands are known to be inhabited by the frost giants, a race of beings impervious to the biting cold of the frost lands. On top of the coldest mountain peak layed a castle made of an ancient metal long forgotten to time.
The castle had stood long before the frost giants arrived on the ground of Rastien.
A figure hunched on the edge of a frozen garden balcony over- looking the city beneath him. The flowers of ice surrounded him as he allowed himself to relax, taking a break from his duties.
'Nothing of interest has happened in quite some time.' The frozen king Vetr lamented still looking down at his kingdom.
'The last time something of note happened was when my brother left to the borders to fight the invasion of bandits from the firelands.' Vetr thought, a small smile on his face.
Vetr picked a frozen flower from the vine near him. He could feel the coldness of the flower penetrate his icy grip.
'It's time for them to be harvested.' He thought breathing in the cold fragrance of flowers in bloom.
The heat from his hand melted the flower. Soaking the essence of the flower into his hand. 'This should keep me safe from the cold. Enough time for the alchemist.' He thought.
Looking around his private garden he made sure no one witnessed his dependence on flowers that bloomed in his personal garden.
Vetr decided to leave his garden. He needed to make sure his minister had prepared the alchemist for this batch of frost resistance potion. Suddenly he felt a pulse of magic coming from the direction of the human kingdom.
'What are they doing now? Hopefully they know to stay out of my land.' Vetr's face turned cold at his thoughts.
'If they managed to make a weapon capable of being felt from here… An alliance between the other lands may be the only choice.' Vetr thought.
As Vetr contemplated the ramifications of the magic he felt, he sensed a small group of people trying to teleport into his garden. Vetr amused allowed the teleportation to complete.
'Assassins in the height of winter. Who would be foolish enough to attempt this.' Vetr thought.
As teleportation was completed he felt three presences appear behind one of the ice bushes in his garden.
Vetr heard a man screaming.
"My eyes!" The voice shouted.
Approaching the three assassins he hid his presence managing to get closer to the three only hidden by a tree.
'These can't be assassins. Not with their candour.' Vetr thought.
Standing behind a tree Vetr slowly looked around the tree. He saw a jester with his hands over his eyes screaming, a vampire trying to feed him a potion and a witch apologising to the both of them.
Vetr watched the three, nodding his head in understanding. 'They're just idiots.' He thought.
Vetr stopped hiding his presence, the vampire and the witch's heads snapped towards him. "What are you three doing in my castle?" He said.
"I don't know!" Seraphine quickly said.
"Where is Thrym?" Galser asked the human-like frost giant.
"My father has been gone for quite some time." Vetr replied unsure. 'How is this vampire aware of my father?' He thought.
"My condolences, I came here to see him once more, I suppose I slept for too long." Galser said despondently.
"No, he's not dead." Vetr said. 'This vampire must have been friends with my father. To be keyed into the castle wards he must have been trusted by my father.' He thought.
"Where has he gone? He is not the type of person to abandon his people." Galser said.
"He had left to start a colony on the continent of Estain to the east. When he left he took half the frost giants along with him." Vetr said having been chosen by his father to rule in his stead. "He does visit every couple of decades."
"But enough about my father. What are you doing here and who are these two?" Vetr looked towards the witch who has been staring at him since he appeared and the jester who finally stopped screaming now rubbing his bloodshot eyes wiping his tears away.
"I'm not certain if you felt it, but in the enchanted forest a powerful vampire has emerged and almost killed us." Galser said.
"The enchanted forest? That wave of magic came from the other side of the continent." Vetr said surprised. "What type of weapon did he use for it to be felt across all of rastien?"
Galser's face turned dead serious looking into Vetr's deep blue eyes. "It wasn't an attack, it was just the excess magic leaving his body."
A chill ran down Vetr's back at the thought of a being so powerful its aura could be felt throughout the entire continent.
Vetr finally responded to him. "Do you have any idea what kind of goal he has in mind?"
"Well, he seems to want to kill the human king." Galser said.
"The fool. That thing shouldn't even be considered a human." Vetr said. 'That man and his descendants shouldn't be taken lightly.' he thought.
'These three should be the only ones that know of this new threat. The other lands should be warned of the threat, lest they attack the frost lands dooming us all.' Vetr thought.
"Come. You all need rest. I must speak with my advisors. I will need more information once you've rested." Vetr spoke, his voice left no room for denial.
The runes on Vetr's chestplate glowed a bright white light. His armour grew from a simple white chestplate to a full plate armour. A simple white circlet that kept his long flowing snow-white hair in place.
The frost king moved through his garden, the three closely followed behind. Each stride caused a sheen of ice to grow under his steps.
"Take these three to the warm guest rooms." Vetr said to the frost giant guarding the entrance to his garden as he moved past him. He didn't look back as he travelled to his throne in his royal attire.
The frost looked at the three unsure how they managed to enter the garden past him. Assuming this to be a test by his king he does as he ordered.
Jessiah's eyes adjusted to the light outside of the enchanted forest. He looked out the window onto the city that sparkles like a jewel. Looking upwards he saw colours painted on the sky.
"What is that!" Jessiah shouted looking at the colourful streak above the city.
"It's a rainbow?" Seraphine responded unsure, trying to look for anything else in the sky.
"How is it there?" Jessiah asked. Still in shock at the coloured arch above the city.
"Magic. The great mage Al-Batal sealed away a creature of great power. A rainbow appears when the seal he created leaks magic." Seraphine responded having learned of this phenomenon from her teachers. "You shouldn't worry about it. The creature has never escaped."
"It's just light reflecting off the ice." Galser said, giving Seraphine an annoyed look.
Seraphine turned to Galser unsure at his claim. 'Does he not know of the legendary mage?' She thought.
"We're here." The frost giant said standing by the doors leading into their rooms. He himself was only short enough to crouch through the doors.
"Ok. Thank you." Jessiah said to the frost giant, his companions lost in their own thoughts.
Jessiah looked at the frost giant staring at them and questioned him. "Do you need something?"
"I've been ordered to escort you to your rooms. You haven't entered your room." He said his face is unmoving.
The three entered the rooms given to them. Leaving the giant to return to his station guarding the king's private garden.
"Do you think the king is trustworthy? And that he won't just kill us to keep the vampire across the forest hidden." Jessiah asked Galser.
Galser looked at the city from the balcony of the room they had been given to share. He scanned through the city as if he was looking for a particular building.
"I have no idea. However when he first came across us he could have easily killed us. We wouldn't have ever known." Galser simply pointed out. "It is my fault. I had not realised we would be teleported directly into the castle. I had meant for us to arrive on the border between the frost lands and the wood elves forest." Galser revealed the mistake he had made in his haste.
"Do you think that Seraphine is trustworthy then?" Jessiah asked about the person who had instigated his master to attack.
"I know as much as you do. However, you can't trust anything she says for now." Galser said.
'Her knowledge is certainly lacking. Her belief about the rainbow… A fool could be worse than a betrayer.' He thought.
"I think we should trust them both." Jessiah said. "It is rare for someone not to attack you." He added as an afterthought.
"The king is the ruler of this land. He needs to know all he can about this new vampire king to protect his people." Galser said.
"King?" Jessiah questioned Galser.
"Yes. Don't you think his power is quite a bit more potent than that of a normal vampire lord." Galser said. 'His natural abilities far outweigh any other vampire before him.' He thought.
Jessiah pursed his lips. "I wouldn't know. The only vampire lord I've met is you, and I've never seen you fight."
Galser let out a quiet chuckle. "If I stay involved in this mess, seeing me battle will be quite a common occurrence. I suppose."
"Well to be honest I kinda do wanna fight just to see what I can do now." Jessiah said as he stretched his arms. 'How strong am I?' He thought.
"You having your magic sealed might have accidentally helped you." Galser said absentmindedly.
'If this Jaskidon could become a vampire king it only makes sense that others could.' He thought to himself.
"How? What do you mean?" Jessiah asked Galser knowing that he is far more knowledgeable about the magical arts than he.
"When you had your magic sealed you had to use it at the highest level of control else you would run out rapidly." Galser said seeing Jessiah pay attention to every word he continued. "Now that your full potential is unsealed, you shouldn't waste a single drop of magic."
Jessiah looked towards Galser. "Could I become stronger than you?
"If you had asked me before I slumbered, I would have told you no. Now learning about a human killing the vampire lords perhaps you could." Galser said. "If you were to learn more magic, you would be quite the adversary on the battlefield." He told Jessiah honestly.
"Could you teach me?" Jessiah asked.
Galser's face hardened. "Why exactly do you want to become stronger?"
A silence stretched between the two. Jessiah finally responded. "I… I don't know, I just want to be strong."
"That is not good enough. However I will teach you basics so you don't kill yourself floundering around with your magic." Galser said.
Jessiah gave Galser a nod of understanding moving to the bed until noticed that Galser was still standing by the window looking out to the city. "Are you going to rest?"
"I spent the last seven centuries at the least in a slumber. The last thing I wish to do is sleep." Galser said looking out to the city he has not seen in a very long time.
In the room adjacent to Galser and Jessiah's, a young witch sat on her bed thinking about the events that have taken place since leaving her home.
Seraphine hands covered her face as she let out a silent scream. 'This was supposed to be a simple mission. How did it turn into this?'
'Do I just go back home and tell them what happened surely they would understand?' Seraphine questioned whether or not she would still become an overseer after returning.
'Maybe the information on that vampire would be enough.' Seraphine thought solely on her promotion to overseer. Standing up she moved to the balcony looking out to the city.
'No. I have to see this through to the end. I can't give up.' She was determined not to fail her first mission.
Thinking back to the vampire's words before she revealed herself, Seraphine's determination redoubled. 'If his goal is to conquer the lands beyond. He would have to go through the fairy king's forest.'
'There is no one strong enough to stop him. The best I can do is to make all the kingdoms aware of the threat and work together.' A plan slowly formed in her mind to bring the nations together to combat the vampire that seemed to have reached a formerly unattainable level of power.
'Depending on how this kingdom reacts will let me know how the others will.' Seraphine decided to wait for this kingdom's decision before reaching out to the other lands.
Seraphine chose to rest while she could. Moving back to the bed given to her.
Weeks of rough sleep in the enchanted forest allowed her to quickly fall into a deep sleep. The only sounds from the room where the quiet breaths that left her as the night became deeper.
Jessiah's eyes grew heavy after the damage and healing they had received since leaving the enchanted forest. His mind drifted into the void, as he rested his weary body.
Hearing Jessiah breathing softly, Galser brought out a vial of blood from his pouch. Drinking the blood out of the view of his companion, his hunger calmed once more.
'I do need to find a stable source of blood. I had only brought enough to last a couple of weeks.' Galser looked out of the window of the castle.
Using magic Galser created a fake presence in the room while cloaking his own. Jumping out the window Galser fell down from the window feeling the wind rush past him. As he neared the ground he turned into a bat flying into the city.
Flying over the frozen houses he entered an alley, he cancelled his transformation turning back into his true form. Nearing the wall of the alley he pressed his hand onto the wall coursing his magic through the wall.
The wall opened up to him, entering the opening Galser looked around the room, and noticed it hasn't been used in at least a couple of centuries. He moved to a closed case opening it up and saw a cache of blood vials hidden in the frozen city.
'It seems hiding these caches across Rastein has finally paid their dividends to me.' Galser picked up enough bottles to last a couple of months putting them into his pouch as he closed the case leaving the majority of bottles in the case.
"It truly does seem that the vampires have gone into hiding." Galser said out loud trying to dissolve the morbid feeling of the vampires having almost disappeared from the surface.
'I doubt that all the vampire lords were killed. It is far more likely they went hiding underground.' Galser thought, knowing that after one or two died the rest would have completely gone into hiding.
Galser left the room making sure the entrance closed behind him. As he turns into his bat form, a great explosion erupted from the castle causing a wave of ash to cover the city.
'I hope they don't think I caused that.' Galser thought as he rushed to his room in the castle.
Looking down at the city he saw the entire city become alive, frost giants exited their homes, weapons in hand.
Reaching the balcony he jumped off, he saw Jessiah standing by the door. "What's happening?" Galser asked.
"I don't know. They said to stay in the room." Jessiah said as he saw Galser enter the room. "They were sure you were in here. I told them you were asleep."
"I left a magic signature when I visited the city." Galser said dismissing his fake signature as he unconcealed his own.
"What were you doing in the city?" Jessiah asked.
"I was just picking up some blood from a hidden room in the city." Galser said. "I wouldn't worry too much about this attack. The firelands and the frostlands are in constant battle." Galser explained the history of this region.
"Do you think it's still happening?" Jessiah questioned. 'He has been asleep a long time.' He thought.
"I'm not certain. Thrym the last frost king would have never left if there was an ongoing conflict." Galser responded as he started to hear the sounds of footsteps approach the room.
The footsteps stopped at the door before a loud bang hit the door. The blow causes a shockwave of vibration to through the room.
Jessiah opened the door looking at the group of frost giants standing in the hall. "Why do you have these rooms if you're barely able to fit in them?"
"The king is requesting your presence. He also sends his apologies for not allowing you the rest he promised." The frost giant in the front said ignoring Jessiah's question. The frost giant stood taller than his brethren donning silver armour prepared for combat.
They followed the frost giants and soon realised that the witch they arrived with was not present. "Where's the witch, Seraphine. She is with us." Jessiah asked.
"Yes, the witch." The frost giant in silver armour said. "She helped us defeat the attackers."
"I thought you wanted us to stay in our rooms?" Jessiah not understanding why the witch would be allowed free movement during the attack.
"You were. She didn't listen to us." The frost giant spat out his annoyance showing, his frozen face turning into a scowl.
"She did help apprehend the attackers." The frost giant's face softened at his own omission, acknowledging without the witch there could have been more damage to the castle or his people.
"It seems it all worked out in the end." Jessiah said.
"Yes. There is a celebration going on in the city below." The frost giant said looking out the window to see that the city has become alive. Lamps lit up the city below them.
Jessiah stared down at the city watching the frost giants celebrating, the entire city seemed alive.
"This looks like a nice city to live in, people able to live in peace without fear." Jessiah responded as a gust of wind caused him to shiver slightly. "If you ignore the cold weather."
"For frost giants this weather is actually warm." The frost giant said knowing that if the jester had arrived in their land during the end-winter he wouldn't survive a week outside the castle.
Jessiah looked to the frost giant guiding them unsure whether to believe him or not. The frost giant suddenly came to a stop in an empty hall.
"We have arrived." The frost giant placed his hand onto the wall. The wall disappeared as if it were an illusion. Muffled sound now comes from behind the large doors.
Entering the throne room they heard two distinct voices talking about the attack.
"You didn't have to get involved, but you have my thanks nonetheless." The king said to the witch.
"I'm glad I could help." Seraphine responded to the king.
Entering room Jessiah looked around the room as large as the doors led him to believe. He saw animal skins covering the floor, the walls adorned with the heads of various creatures including a few dragon skulls.
"Hello?" Jessiah said seeing the witch and the king continue to talk amongst themselves not noticing they had arrived.
The frost king sat upon his ice throne and looked towards the voice interrupting him. Seeing the human and vampire he called for have now entered his throne room.
"Good you're here." The frost king said as he stood. His throne was made of ice that sparkled like the most beautiful of jewels.
Gesturing to the side of the room three jeivikats are seen hanging from the roof by their neck. Their naturally dark skin turned paler as their breathing became more difficult.
"As you can see the attack had nothing to do with the vampire from beyond the fairy forest. Just some jeivikats trying to attack during the night. That does lead me to why I have called you here." The king took a small breath. "Seraphine has already agreed to this, but I request for you to go to the firelands and warn them of the vampire."
"Why do you need us to go?" Galser asked, unsure what this king was trying to achieve.
"I've already sent messengers to the wood and high elves. The issue is that the jeivikats or the dragons would never believe a frost giant." The frost king now looked solely at Galser. "They would however believe a resident of that forest."
"They could also simply not believe us either." Galser said the obvious to the king.
"As long as the thought is in their head that is enough." Vetr said thinking back to the terror the vampires used to wreck on the mainlands.
"I'll do it, I have nothing else to do." Jessiah said.
Galser looked at the king, "I want something from you if I'm to do this for you." The king nodded his head for him to continue. "I want to study the frost giant runes."
"You do understand it is not possible for someone without frost giant blood to learn our magic." Vetr said, confused at the useless request.
Vetr looked at the vampire seeing him not responding he relented to his pointless payment.
"We don't hide our magic anyways, here." Vetr said as he threw the vampire a book.
"That book has the basic runic language. If you want the more advanced rune languages you would have to do more than be a messenger." Vetr said using a rune to summon hundreds of books floating above him containing different languages pertaining to the runic magic.
"I understand." Galser said to the king.
Galser puts the book into his robe, discreetly dropping it into his pouch. "We just need to tell the two leaders of the fire lands about the vampire king. Is that all?"
"Yes that is all." The frost king Vetr replied. He knew this should be a trivial task for a being trusted by his own father.
"After we let the people of the fire lands know about the vampire I'll go to the fairy king's forest." Seraphine said as she stood next to her two new companions.
"What about the human kingdom?" Jessiah asked the King seeing he left them out.
As the words left his mouth Vetr and Seraphine looked at him as a fool. Not understanding the looks sent his way Jessiah voiced his confusion. "What's wrong with the human kingdom?"
"They will kill you. As soon as you say you're from any other land you will die." Vetr explained to Jessiah.
"What about you?" Jessiah questioned the other human amongst them.
"I'm a witch." Seraphine said to Jessiah noticing he continued to have a confused look she explained. "They don't consider witches to be human. They think of us as demons."
"I wasn't aware." Jessiah looked to the others, seeing them still sending him looks. "I wasn't taught about the human kingdom." He defended himself.
"How are we going to get to the fire land? Walking across two different lands will take a couple of months at the earliest." Jessiah asked Galser hoping there is a faster way to travel there.
"The most I can do is teleport you to a city at the edge of the frost lands." The frost king said, offering them a way to travel past the frost lands.
"You can only teleport to the other cities in the frost lands from this castle, it is a one-way teleportation circle." The frost king said giving the three of them the option to teleport.