Chapter 8 Chapter 7 Lost of Grace

Fest Rangpo watched suspiciously.He couldn't comprehend the change of Headmaster Thobicus.The last time they had spoken to the Headmaster, the man had been obsessed—no, obsessed—with the idea that Cadderly would return to the library and tyrannically destroy the Denierian Cult. Thobicus seems to be having a pretty easy time these days.He secretly summoned four Denierian leaders, three of whom were patriarchs, for what he called "the most crucial meeting". They gathered in a small dining room adjacent to the main hall and kitchen, around an oak table with nothing but a few huge empty goblets in front of five chairs.

"My dear Bernard," said Thobicus briskly, "please go down to the cellar and get a good bottle of wine, the special red bottle on the third shelf." "A bottle of red wine?" Bernard asked, his features creased.Bernard prefers baijiu. "A red bottle," Thobix corrected.He turned to Rambo and winked at him. "Preserved by magic, you know. That's the only way to preserve flying wine." "Flying wine?" Langbo and the others asked in unison.Flying wine is an elven drink said to be a mixture of honey, flowers, and moonshine.It's so rare that even elves are hard to come by, and getting a bottle from them is nearly impossible.

"It was a gift from King Galandale when he ruled Simista," Thobix explained. "Bring it here, please." Bernard looked at Rambo, worried that the man was about to burst into anger, and Rambo was already angry.He wondered if Thobex had somehow gotten word of Cadderly's death, and if that was the reason for the celebration, the Headmaster was really out of place! Bernard hesitated for a moment, then hesitantly started to leave. "Wait a minute!" Langbo blurted out, and everyone else turned to look at him. "Your mood has improved, Headmaster Thobicus," said Rambo. "Pretty much better. Can you tell us what's affecting you?"

"I reached communion with God Denir this morning," Thobix lied. "Cadderly is dead?" Rambo reasoned, and the other three Denier priests immediately looked at the headmaster with displeasure.Even priests who disagreed with Cadderly and his unseemly rapid ascension in the Order would not celebrate such a tragedy - at least not publicly. Sobix put on a terrified expression. "He's not dead," he replied excitedly. "As far as I know, this good young priest is on his way back to the library at this time." Good young priest?These words came from Thobicus, and sounded rather hollow to Fest Rumpeau.

"Then why are we celebrating?" Bernard asked boldly. Sobix let out a big sigh. "I thought I'd say it when I toast with flying wine," he moaned. "But that's okay, I understand your impatience. Simply put, there will be no second year of turmoil." The words elicited sighs of relief, and whispers among the crowd. "And I've also learned a lot from Cadderly," Thobix continued. "The Cult will live on—in fact, it will be stronger when he returns, and he and I will work hand in hand to improve the way the library works." "You hate each other," Rambo said, and he looked around nervously.He had no intention of expressing this opinion publicly.

However, Thobicus just chuckled lightly, as if he didn't care. "With God Denir as the arbiter, our differences seem trivial at all." The head of the academy replied. He looked around, his bright smile contagious. "So let's celebrate!" he exclaimed, and nodded to Bernard, who ran to the door, to the wine cellar, with genuine eagerness. The conversation went on, briskly and hopefully, with Thobix paying special attention to Lumbaud, the man he considered the most troublesome potential.Twenty minutes later, Benner still hadn't returned. "He couldn't find the bottle," Thobex remarked to quell any panic. "My dear Benar, he may have dropped the torch and was stumbling around in the dark."

"Benna has the ability to summon light," Rambo said, a hint of doubt still in his voice. "Where is he then?" Thobicus asked. "The bottle is brightly colored and should be easy to find on shelf five." "You were talking about the third shelf." Another priest interrupted quickly. Thobicus glared at him, then scratched his head. "I said that?" he whispered, and then he buried his face in his hands theatrically. "Of course," he said thoughtfully. "Flying wine was on the third shelf until... the accident." Everyone else knows that the dean is referring to the dark time when the Chaos Curse occurred, when the evil priest Barjin invaded the library, trying to get rid of Destroy this place from within.

"There was a lot of trouble going on in the wine cellar," Thobix went on. "If I remember correctly, several of the bewitched priests even went down there and drank...to the point that we could say they were overdose." Rambo looked away, for he was one of those drinkers. "Fortunately, the flying wine stayed, but I did remember that I moved it to the fifth shelf, which is the most stable shelf," Thobix finished.He gestured to one of the other priests. "Please go and help dear Benar," he commanded. "In case he runs back and even gets alarmed, he wants to deal with me!"

After the priest ran out, the conversation in the room restarted, and his attitude was not too worried.Fifteen minutes later, it was Langbo who said that it had been too long since the two men who went looking for drinks hadn't returned. "If some low priest steals that bottle, my good mood will be gone," Thobicus warned. "There's a detailed list of wine cellars," Rambo said. "I've seen that list, though I don't recall any record of flying wine," the other priest added, and he gave a mirthful laugh. "And I will definitely notice the existence of this treasure, I can guarantee that."

"Of course that bottle of wine is not marked as flying wine." Thobicus explained, and then he nodded, as if he had just thought of an obvious fact. "If dear Benar decides to taste the wine before returning, we'll find the two missing brothers sitting numb in the wine cellar!" roared the dean. "Flying wine has its own mysterious stamina, stronger than dwarves' ale!" He got up to leave, and the other two priests quickly followed him.Their mood was still light, and all fears or doubts were calmed by the logical deduction provided by the head of the school.When they came to the cellar door, Thobicus took and lit a small oil lamp that lay in a nearby cupboard, and led them down the wooden steps into the darkness.

They didn't hear any chatter or drunken conversation, and became a little concerned to find that their oil lamp was apparently the only light source in the whole dank, dark cellar. "Benar?" Rambo called softly.Thobicus stood by silently, while the other priest began to chant a spell in a low voice, trying to bring a strong magical light to the area. The priest suddenly twitched violently, which caught the attention of the two companions. "I'm afraid a spider just bit me." He responded to Rambo's questioning expression, but then he began to twitch convulsively, his eyeballs rolled wildly, and then rolled back completely. Before Lang Bo had time to support him, he had already fallen face down on the ground. "What's going on?" Langbo yelled, lifting the head of the fallen priest.He began to chant incantations frantically, casting a spell against all poisons. "Lambo!" cried Thobicus, and though the priest did not interrupt his frenzied incantation, he turned to look at the dean. He stared dumbfounded at the sight of Zirkan Rufo, the vampire's face glowing with blood. The vampire stretched out a pale hand towards Langbo. "Come to me," he ordered. Langbo felt a wave of oppressive willpower rushing towards him.He put the fallen priest's head back on the ground and stood up, not realizing that he had done this. "Come to me," the vampire coaxed. "Join me as your dean. Come to me and see the truth." Langbo's feet slid unconsciously along the smooth floor, drifting toward the darkness of Zirkan Rufo.But somewhere in the depths of his consciousness, he caught a glimpse of an open eye above a burning candle, the symbol of Denir's light, which jolted him out of his trance. "No!" he said decisively, then drew out his holy symbol and held it up wholeheartedly against the undead monster.Rufo hissed and raised his arms to shield himself from the view.Thobicus turned around in shame.The light from the oil lamp in his hand left as he walked around the next shelf, but the light near Lambeau did not, bathed in the power of the holy symbol he held up, in the light of the heart of the faithful priest. "Stupid fellow!" the vampire yelled. "You think you can fight me?" Feist Rampo did not waver.He basks in the light of the god he serves, and with true faith he casts aside any doubts that evoke fear. "I reject you!" he said aloud. "And with the power of God Denir..." His words stopped suddenly, and he almost fainted.Glancing back, he saw a dog-faced imp glaring at him, flicking its barbed, venom-dipping tail—the same tail that brought another priest down, and now Drush Ergang stabbed Langbo's kidney with it. Rambo staggered to the stairs, and Druzil stabbed him a second time, and he stumbled and fell to his knees.He tried to stand up again, but the world in front of him gradually slipped into darkness.The last thing he saw was of Zirkan Rufo - saw Zilkan Rufo's fangs coming towards his throat. After the vampire had finished his meal, he found Thobix standing by the fifth shelf.The priest Thobicus had sent to look for Benar lay there, his chest ripped open, and his heart falling on the floor beside him.Surprisingly, though, Benner sat leaning against the shelf with his head bowed, but was clearly able to move. "He obeyed my call," Rufo explained casually to the bewildered Headmaster. "So, I think we can keep him because he's weak." Rufo gave the dean a bloody smile that was terribly bloody. "Just like you." Headmaster Thobicus had no strength to refute.He looked at the priest whose body had been torn apart, and the living Benar, but felt that Bernard was the most pathetic. ※※※ Hours later, Druzil kicked off and darted across the hot library loft, clapping joyfully at every turn.The air was warm, it was working hard to desecrate a sacred place, and in the floors below it, Rufo, with the help of Headmaster Thobix, was continuing to divide the priests into small groups and smash them one by one. Life suddenly looks very good for this malevolent imp.Druzil flapped his wings and lifted himself up to one of the poles on the roof so he could inspect his latest design.This imp knows all the profane runes, and has just finished his favorite part right above the library's main chapel (although that chapel is two floors down).Thobix provided a virtually limitless supply of ink—red, blue, black, and even a small bottle of the odd green-yellow (Drusil's favorite bottle)!And the imp knew that with every stroke it made on the floor, the stupid priests in the room below were further away from their respective gods. At a certain point, Druzil paused, then hissed angrily and puffed away from the spot.Someone was singing in the room below it—that damned Chantikri, Druzil realized.Chantikri was singing to Denir and Oghma, raising the volume to fight the encroaching darkness with pure, sweet notes. It hurt Druzil's ear.It leaves the place, and the vibration of Chantikri's voice ceases.There were so many things going on in its favor that Druzil quickly put the singing priest behind him. Druzil returned to a happy mood again, clapping his hands quickly, a smile with all his teeth baring his ears.When Rufo went to look for it in the mausoleum the night before, it was uneasy, and even considered using all its magical powers and knowledge to open a door, thinking that maybe it should retreat back to the lower world, and send Rufo and Tandor Chiro Mi An Kai dropped them together. Now, just half a day later, Druzil is more than happy not to have chosen that route.Barjin failed, but Rufo wouldn't, and the imp knew it. The Moezhi Library will fall. ※※※ Thobix's hesitant step down the cellar revealed that he had been afraid of Zirkan Rufo, and had been uneasy about his decision.It still couldn't believe it had killed Bron Terman, his longtime friend and comrade.It still can't believe that it has fallen so far from the teachings of Denir, that it has thrown away all its life's efforts. There is only one antidote to the guilt that almost destroyed Headmaster Thobicus, and that is anger.And the focus of this anger is the young priest who will soon return to the library. Thobex decided it was Cadderly's fault.Cadderly's covetous desire for power he didn't deserve had caused this to happen. Thobicus descended the last step of the dark staircase without any lamp or torch.With each passing hour, the man became more at ease in the dark.Now it could see the bottle rack, and even the individual shapes of the bottles, though it had only been a week ago, and it was so dark it couldn't wave a hand an inch in front of it.Rufo called it another benefit, and panicked deans feared it might be more of a symptom. It found Rufo in the far corner, sleeping behind the last row of bottle racks in a wooden coffin the vampire had taken from a working trellis at the back of the mausoleum.Thobix approached Rufo, then stopped abruptly, eyes wide in terror and confusion. Bron Terman walked towards it. The bewildered dean turned to run away, but found that several other people, including Feist Langbo, blocked the way.They came alive!Somehow, the priests have been resurrected and are coming back to destroy Thobex! The headmaster jumped to the bottle rack with a shriek.It scrambled up like a spider with agility the haggard old man had not possessed in decades.It was close to the top of the shelf, and could have climbed over easily, but a command sounded in his head, forcing it to stop. Slowly, Thobicus turned his head and saw Zirkan Rufo sitting up in the coffin, grinning like a ghost. "You don't like my new plaything?" the vampire asked. Thobicus did not understand what he meant.It looked more closely at the closest man, Feist Rumpeau, and saw that Rumpeau's throat was still shattered from Rufo's tearing.The man couldn't possibly be breathing, Thobix understood, the man was still dead. Thobix turned and jumped from his perch, flying down ten feet, and landed on the stony ground with cat-like ease.Bron Terman was near the landing, holding it with a stiff hand. "Tell him to let you go," Rufo said lightly, but the semblance of patience disappeared immediately, and was replaced by a critical, even dangerous expression. "Control him!" Thobicus said nothing, fixed his gaze, and ordered Terman to let go in his heart-when the man let go of it and stood back quietly, the dean was really relieved. "Zombies!" gasped Thobix, realizing that Rufo had made these torn corpses into immortal, unthinking slaves, the lowest level of monsters in the underworld. "The converts will become intelligent beings, just as you have become," Rufo said in a commanding voice. "Those who choose to die for their gods become foolish slaves, mindless zombies, tormented!" As if he had been instructed, Bernard appeared from the corner and smiled at Thobicus.Benar surrendered and renounced his god before Zirkan Rufo. "Hello, Thobex," the man said, and when Pena opened his mouth, Thobex saw that he had grown a pair of fangs like Rufo's. "You're already a vampire," whispered the headmaster, stating the obvious. "Same as you," Bernard replied. Thobix looked at Rufo suspiciously, and then, following another psychic command, it reached out to touch the inside of its own mouth and found that it had a pair of fangs. "We're all vampires," Bernard continued. "Including Zirkan Rufo, there are three in total." "Not exactly," Rufo interrupted suddenly.The two men stared at him curiously, Bena's eyes were full of doubts, and the headmaster of Thobicus was also at a loss. "You're not quite in the realm of vampires yet," Rufo explained, and knew he was telling the truth, though he didn't know how he came to these understandings of immortality.It guessed that it should be the knowledge given by the curse of chaos. "You clearly said I could be a vampire," Benar said. "That's our deal." Rufo raised a hand to calm him down. "You will," it assured the man, "it just takes a little while." "You awoke with full power shortly after your death," Benar complained. Rufo smiled, thinking of the Chaos Curse churning inside him, the potion that gave it great power and understanding.Rufo thought, but I have one advantage, stupid Bernard.It only repeated the promise of "it will take a little time" to Bernard. Rufo turned to a confused Thobex. "You're going to suffer from blood cravings tonight," it explained to the Headmaster, who was staring at him wide-eyed. "Then a low-ranking priest will be found to feast on. I assure you of this, but I warn you. If you dare to have a second thought about me, you will never have another vampire. There is nothing like a vampiric desire to be thwarted. Worse tortures—you'll believe it when the hunger and thirst hit you." This unexpected new news made Dean Thobicus extremely confused.Become a vampire yourself! "Tonight," Rufo said again, as if answering the Headmaster's silent cry. "And be careful, the sun's rays will become your enemy starting tomorrow and forever. Find a dark place to sleep after sucking blood, Thobex." The dean's breathing became a series of short gasps, and when he realized this fact, he seriously doubted whether this was the last day he could breathe. "Did you follow my instructions?" Rufo asked it. Looking up at the vampire, I was taken aback by the sudden change of subject.It organizes thoughts quickly. "Five priests of Oghma are on their way to Kaladon," Thobix replied. "They want to wait until morning and complain that there is only an hour or two of daylight left to stop and camp." "But you convinced them," Rufo reasoned. "I'm sending them," Thobix corrected, speaking to the vampire in the most defiant tone possible. "But I don't see the point of getting them out of the library. If Druzil is working..." There was a sharp pain in Thobicus's head, which made it stop halfway and almost couldn't stand up. "You question me?" Rufo asked. Thobicus found himself on his knees, clutching his temples with his hands, thinking his head was about to explode, but then, as suddenly as it had begun, the pain disappeared.It took him a while to work up enough courage to look up at Zirkan Rufo again, and when he did, he found the vampire relaxed and Bennar standing comfortably beside him. For some reason that he did not understand, Thobicus hated Bernard very much at this moment. "Those priests of Oghma probably sensed the sacrilege," Rufo explained. "Otherwise, you'll recognize your change quickly. When they return to the library, they'll fully understand the meaning of profanity and welcome it." Thobicus pondered these words, not doubting Rufo's declaration.Less than sixty Denir and Oghma priests remained alive in the library, and there were only six visitors, none of whom were strong enough to fight the situation-controlling vampire. "Is that Priestess Suni in her room?" Rufo asked suddenly, jolting Thobex out of his own contemplation.The headmaster nodded, and then Rufo looked at Bernard and nodded too. Two hours later, as the sun sank below the western horizon and darkness completely enveloped the land, Zirkan Rufo walked out from the front door of the Moezhi Library, black robes flapping behind him, and the vicious imp perched on his shoulders. On a high branch of a nearby tree crouched fearfully, a white squirrel watched the vampire's advance with uncharacteristic concentration.

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