Jackal Among Snakes

When Svetlana of Quadreign opened the door and Argrave’s gaze fell upon Ganbaatar, memories came rushing back just alongside his plan for how to deal with this situation.

Ganbaatar—a fairly tall individual with golden hair, pure red eyes, and sharp ears—was the only elven playable character in the game, so he naturally had a large constituent of loyal fans that hoped to betray humanity and instead hug trees. The elven rogue-warrior protagonist hailed from what the humans in Vasquer called the Bloodwoods.

The Bloodwoods was one of the most dangerous places in the continent—a fitting fate for tree-huggers. Not that Argrave was in any place to criticize; he had wavered between liking and disliking the woodland elves quite frequently himself. He’d always liked the Veidimen, and the ancient, now largely extinct elves were even cooler.

In the redwood forests the woodland elves called their homes, even the smallest of their big trees rivaled skyscrapers. The danger of the place came from the fact there was another species competing for dominance, one Argrave and company had encountered before: centaurs. The centaurs and the elves were natural enemies after generations of feuds. The elves had been winning for a long while, yet Vasquer’s invasion hurt their numbers terribly and gave the centaurs an opportunity for resurgence.

Why was this history relevant to the conversation? Because Ganbaatar wasn’t from a human culture, and therefore had far fewer traditionally human values. Argrave had come to Veiden relying on their adherence to their forefathers prophecies of old, and it had worked splendidly. In convincing the elf turned vampire hunter, he couldn’t use the same tactics that had carried him in Relize and elsewhere.

Yet extreme cultures were the easiest to play.

“Vasilisa…” Argrave looked back and lightly commanded, “Get the door.”

The Magister stepped within, cast Argrave a perplexed glance, then shut the door. Argrave had yet to say a word to Ganbaatar, and nor had the vampire hunter said anything to him. They both just stared. Anneliese stood just behind him in steadfast support.

As soon as Argrave heard the door shut, he reached at his head and pulled off the white wig, dropping it to the floor. Svetlana raised a perplexed brow, and even Ganbaatar could not help but show some surprise.

“I am King Argrave,” he declared at once. “I reign over the lands of Relize and have an army of twenty thousand swords willing to fight for me.”

Svetlana’s face twisted at those words. She looked to Vasilisa, yet when she saw her aunt was deadly serious, what had been humor twisted to shock.

“I am Ganbaatar,” the elf replied, conditioned by years of service to answer. “I fought in the Holy Army of the Wind, and now travel as a lone vampire hunter taught by the Sunscourge Monastery.”

At once, Argrave was pleased with the dynamic established in this conversation. The elves of the woods had a militaristic society. Hierarchy and rank were important to them. Leaders were to be obeyed without question and revered both on and off the battlefield.

“I have a grievance. You attacked my knight-commander without provocation,” Argrave spoke quickly and strongly.

Vasilisa stepped into Argrave’s line of sight and started, “Argrave, what are you—”

“He is a vampire,” Ganbaatar interrupted. “That is provocation against all life.”

Silence set in between the two of them. Ganbaatar had a wariness in his red eyes, and all of his attention was devoted to Argrave. Doubtless he was wondering why and how Argrave was using speech customary in his people’s armies. While they stared, Anneliese stepped to Vasilisa and explained what Argrave was doing.

“Is that your defense? Will we bring this to your superior?” Argrave pressed in the same tone.

“…I have no superior,” Ganbaatar said after a time. “As I said, I am alone here.”

“And as king, I have no superior,” Argrave followed up, keeping his arms rigidly at his side. “As such, it is within my right to suggest a resolution to this dispute.”

are you playing?” Ganbaatar said, finally breaking free of the rigid guidelines of their conversation. “Are you toying

resolve disputes by escalating the matter to a superior so that any disputes that arise are resolved without adversely impacting both groups. These resolutions

elves, have a common interest,” Ganbaatar refuted. “That doesn’t exist here.

“I think we do. You

settled to watch this exchange after Anneliese’s explanation. Presumably, she had told Ganbaatar why Argrave had been seeking the flame: to cure Galamon’s

eye that locates vampires that

his gaze remained unflinching so as not to betray anything. Both served

don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ganbaatar

head. “And

knife called Althazar that had much the same appearance. While resting the bowl in the palm of

vampires, these will be familiar in appearance,”

at him, then raised his

finger. “Not vacant. These artifacts still work. And I’m certain these two are

and crossed his arms. “Is this…

Argrave nodded. “You killed a vampire to gain possession of that glass eye, didn’t you? A wandering bard, who carried an

rose to a new peak, but he did eventually admit,

vampires to kill, we’ve been seeking that glass eye,” Argrave explained. “The eye… it helped him project himself, didn’t it? He didn’t even need to touch someone to feed from them. And it led him

shock. Meanwhile, Svetlana cut in,

them speak,” Vasilisa urged quietly, putting her hand on her niece’s shoulder.

a resolution,” Argrave declared. “These artifacts—the glass eye, the knife, and the bowl… they all serve to actualize the vampiric beast within the vampire. Rather than some dread instinct, it

Ganbaatar said,

“This idea of mine is backed by thousands of hours of cold, hard research. I’m confident enough to promise you this: you

and said, “Hold a

her. “I’ll stake my head

trailed off. “You’re king, Argrave.

commander should stake his life on his decisions, just as his men have their

her hands

relax, Vasilisa,” Ganbaatar interrupted. “I have no intention of holding someone unrelated hostage.” His red eyes fixed on Argrave. “I would hold only

the man’s life. And… he had. Long before this meeting, he broached

do so,”

delegated to the leaders. Argrave could only earn respect from Ganbaatar by acting in this manner. He didn’t need the man’s respect, only his cooperation… but respect would be amply

he stared out the window. Svetlana walked

my aunt would speak for him…” Svetlana

interrupted her. “Let me

to Anneliese, hoping to get her input. Instead, he met Vasilisa’s cold, blue eyes, obviously greatly

suitable