The Riddle....

When Tears Came to Tirell

Upon first sight of her, he knew at once that it was his destiny to be with her. The new king of Tirell whom had fought so valiantly to free the land now tried to relax in a small village tavern, discontent with the position which was more thrust upon him than was wanted by him. He sat quietly in the corner, few knowing of his new status and so none bothered him. He watched quietly as he continued to drink his ale, watching her with rapt attention. She was such a lively lass, outspoken but not crude. She found laughter easily and many sought to speak with her, but one could tell she was bored with the crass manner of common ilk. She seemed drawn to those whom could wield their intelligence yet temper it with wit. Yet she did not treat anyone haughtily, which was a sign of good nature. Suffer not the fools, but neither condemn them for their ignorance. And being so, he arose to meet this female, whom he sincerely hoped liked him. He introduced himself simply as Sir_Owen, a knight for the kingdom. She smiled as he bowed seeming very pleased that he retained his chivalry even before a simple maiden reciprocating with a curtsy of her own. She told him her name was Tears and that she had fled to this new land from her own. She seemed rather pensive about speaking in detail about why she had fled, but he took her answers at face value and did not pry. this also seemed to please her. They spoke the remainder of the day about him. She was very surprised in the end to find out that this knight whom had been regaling her with stories of battle was really now the king and technically not a knight any longer. He smiled sheepishly at her surprise, and it seemed that it left her at a loss of words. She began to apologize profusely for not acknowledging her new liege but he confided to her that that really, it was own doing, for he did not wish to scare her away. This seemed to strike her as funny and set her to laughing again while also put away some of his own worries. He then congenially offered her a place in the castle if she had none. Being new to the land, she happily accepted. The days seemed to flow by, the both of them spending time together, learning more of each other and coming to be closer friends. She intimated to him a striking truth, that seemed to unsettle him, but she felt he should know. She confessed of her true state, that she was a vampyre, though not one of the undead. She was born of a human that had been bitten in the final throes of death and stolen by the vampire himself and raised. She said she had no anger of her father for he did love her, and his mother would have died the way she was living anyway, which seemed to chill the king who was digesting the truth. Still, she was essentially whom she was to him and he learned to accept even this. In the days that came to pass, he realized he loved this girl and she was truly a delight in his life. He noticed though, that she seemed beset by some secret that she had not shared with him. He asked her about it once and she paused, as if considering. Finally she spoke and told him that it was time for the truth. And that perhaps, they might not be friends afterwards. She revealed to him the reason of her recent flight from her home. It seems that she was enslaved by a demon of Chaos. The demon always professed love and showered her constantly with gifts of power, and even her very own castle in Hell which she named "Crimson" but still the fact remained that she was essentially a slave. She sought her freedom by deceiving him and saying she was only visiting the world above but really trying to find a way to belay her escape from chaos. In her heart, she knew soon enough that he would come and weild the one power he had to control her, and so this was her ever present fear. The truth was harder to take than he thought, and so he left the castle, for some time to think. This saddened Tears, for she wondered then if he did care for her. So she waited there, for she could not think of what to do. He returned the next day seeming as if he had come to some resolve. He approached her and spoke outright of his plans. He queried her about why this demon could have power over her. She answered that there was a geis on this that the demon had placed so she could not answer, but she knew only of one person that could. She said that one would have to quest for this person, for he was quite reclusive. The king, whose nature was really that of a knight, valiantly offered to go on this quest, for to him, she was worth all. It was then that he proposed to her. She cried a bit for she could not truly accept his proposal because of her enslavement. He promised to her that he would free her, and set out to do so. And so the stalwarth knight set upon his quest, that of winning his love's heart. How could it be that anyone, demon or other, could own such a creature and how could they come into such a treasured possession? This bevy of questions assailed him as he sought the one person that held all his answers. He was told to seek one called 'Dracons_Fangs'. What manner of man could this be to be privy to knowledge that could free his love. It was quite the search. No one seemed to know of this elusive man, no one had answers. His heart ached for he felt that time was running out and he had not found them. But one night, as he entered a tavern, there was a loud rucus from a corner of the room and he approached the ensuing crowd. It seemed this, he couldn't quite describe it, .. creature was being beset by some men. It was huge and winged and... quite red. It snarled it's wrath and Owen quietly asked one of the bystanders what was happening. They said that someone had caught this beast, though it being Nosferatu, which was a warped breed of vampyre which attributed to it's ghastly nature and those were hunters that were torturing it to death. Owen felt that he could not let it be killed in such a manner and so he revealed whom he was and the villagers turned in surprise. Two of them were actually knights that had battled beside him and so validated his status and everyone stopped to pay reverence to the king. He commanded that they release the creature and all leave the premises for him to speak to it. They obeyed though not happy with the loss of their sport. He untied the creature and removed the nets and garlic and holy implements surrounding it. The creature arose now free, his wings unfurling fully, an impressive subject to behold. Then it's voice boomed "Who doth free me?" He answered quietly, "Tis I, Owen, King of this land". "I know you". At this, Owen took in a breath of surprise, he composed himself to answer "How can this be?". At that, the creature laughed and bellowed "Ye are the one who seeks to free Tears". "How can you know this?". A smile curled up on his large black lips as he answered quietly in that huge voice, "I am Dracons_Fangs". Owens' eyes grew large as possible as the realization that his quest has been fruitful. "Please, I beseech thee..." "Human! I know what ye seek! Do not mock me. I will answer you this once for what you have done." At this his voice lowered again as he spoke these words. "The one you love is a vampyre. But not just any, she be Setite. Listen mortal, for you only have once to understand...The Setite's heart is cold and unyielding, but there is something that contains their soul and cages it like a prison. As a genie to a lamp, they are bound one to the other eternally. A riddle for you.... I see two objects of earthen past, One is fire pulled from the dark abyss of the void, forged from the hottest pits of hell, the blaze forever sealed on its face. The other is the sun that shines below, so like the crown that Satan wore as he sat at the right hand of God. Together they form her heart, forever they seal her fate..." And with that, the creature roared a fearful roar and as it's wings pushed down, it shot out the large window in the tavern's rafter. The words seared themselves upon his memory as he pondered the next week for the answer. He returned to the castle to discover, alas, that he was too late. Tears was beset by the demon, whom had returned to collect her....