The Chronicles of Arnora: The Curse of the Blood Moon

Chapter Eleven: Dungeons and Vampires

(Warning: this chapter contains depictions of blood, gore, strong language and decapitation, which might not be suitable for some readers.)

~Chapter Eleven~
Dungeons and Vampires

Owin had left the armory along with Arwen and Percival, they had parted ways with Aqua who insisted on searching for Luke while they went off to rescue Ryo from the dungeon. They soon headed down the same hall he and Percival had come up through earlier passing by the ash covered armor and chard remains of the guards Percival had fought just awhile ago. They continued down the hall and soon passed the rubble of the golem Owin had defeated with a single iron nail, which was now an iron great sword being carried by Percival the very person who made it by using a version of alchemy he called transmutation. They continued on down the hall until they came to a very large corridor.

Owin: "Okay Percival, which way do we go from here to get to the dungeon?"

Percival: "If I remember correctly it's to the left of this hallway here. But we should proceed with caution, the dungeon is very heavily guarded."

Arwen: "I'm sure that between the three of us we can handle a few guards."

Percival: "I have no doubt about that Arwen, but still we should be careful. The dungeon area is where the Empire keeps their most dangerous prisoners."

Owin: "From what I know about Ryo, he is one dangerous individual who was highly wanted by Gregor, the lord of Zhagos. Apparently he killed and took the place of someone very close to him for a while and found out some interesting information, which he refuses to tell anyone. It's no wonder why Isis was interrogating him and why she's keeping him in the dungeon with Zemor's worst criminals, if in fact they even are criminals."

Arwen: "I knew the person Ryo killed, his name was Klaus Lindner and he wasn't the most pleasant of people. He was Gregor's treasurer, he raised the taxes on the low income families of Zhagos and they were barely making it by as it was. The money he took from them he distributed to all the richest people in the city just to make them richer."

Owin: "Yet another thing to add to the growing list of illegal activities the Empire is conducting." Owin continued on down the long hall towards the dungeon followed closely by the others. "Arwen, do you know anything about Ryo other than what we already know?"

Arwen: "I do know that he couldn't have chosen anyone better to masquerade as, Klaus was one of Gregor's most trusted advisors. It was nearly three months before the real body of Klaus was recovered and Ryo was found out. In that time he recovered enough vital information that could very well shine light upon all the Empire's misdeeds. Gregor then made it public knowledge that a snow white skinned elf had assassinated the real Klaus, took his place and stole government secrets."

Percival: "I find it curious though, they threw me in here accusing me of being a spy yet they only put me in a regular prison cell. Your friend Ryo must have something really good against the Empire for him to be held there."

Owin: "I was thinking the very same thing, and he won't divulge that information unless it's to someone he really trusts, or to the person that sent him in there to get it in the first place. But we shouldn't worry about that just yet, for now we have to get him out of there. Exactly how close are we to the dungeon Percival?"

Percival: "It's just ahead and to the right, there's a staircase that goes down into the dungeon itself." They soon proceed ahead, coming to the staircase Percival had just mentioned where they make their descent down the stairs and into the dungeon.

Arwen: "The scent of blood is very strong down here, so many people have met their ends in this place."

Percival: "I'm surprised you're keeping a clear mind Arwen, the stench of this blood would make a lesser vampire go feral." Arwen raised her arm showing Percival the golden bangle on her wrist.