For a time, at least until the practice bores me, I shall attempt to keep up with posting a regular attempt at the recording of my dreams. I warn you reader, in the great dismal delves of the mind everything is laid bare.

~ The night of Monday, January 18th, 2010 ~

I am a servant of sorts to a seemingly wealthy nobleman who has captured a device for the instantaneous travel of multiple persons, on which trip he brings myself, his wife, his concubine, and his bodyguard / 2nd servant, a pale, raven haired beauty named Tear, by her own explanation a lowly shin-girl from the north, a gladiator slave of sorts. After landing in a ruined grotto of sorts, Augustus (the nobleman), his wife and I are set upon by a creature of greater than animal intelligence yet animalistic fury, sheathed in a seemingly impenetrable skin of grey stone. It knocks Augustus out and bites into the neck of his wife with relish, seeming to draw out her bodily fluids. I am overcome by a chorus of voices, and I feel the world grow dark as I launch at this thing as a shadow of fury.

We battle, seemingly evenly matched, whilst unbeknownst to me a smaller creature of stone steals into the ship we arrived in, a green striated with blue thing of curved and long smooth design, and steals away the unconscious figures of Tear and Augustus' concubine. I scream for Tear to wake up, noticing that she was without armor or greatsword, and remembering then that she had taken ill on the journey. This momentary distraction allows my opponent to try his teeth on my flesh, whereupon I reply in turn, opening his tough flesh with my incisors. He seems stunned, and retreats thereupon, and as the world grows even darker I stumble about and fall to the realm of sleep.

I awaken with a start, no longer cloaked in shadow. And with a start remember all that has happened. The nobleman did not concern me, yet Tear, the only other living being who shared my secret of dark fury, had been taken. I began a search of the ruins, locating a half-ruined castle with sounds of music not far away. Beginning the steep ascent up the bestoned and ruined incline, I noticed broken columns and pillars not unlike those of the white city of the aslarmoshad. Mounting the half-collapsed structure at long last, I began to slowly climp up the ruined yet somewhat stable face to the open aired second floor. What awaited me was a scene of horror. Through half open double doors of golden steel was a regal table bequeathed with all sorts of finery and elegance. Sitting at that table were all who had been lately captured, plus one rather stunted, dwarf-like figure, slowly eyeing each of the seemingly paralyzed victims in turn, all dressed in some type of aged gown or suit of pale silk. Seated the head of the table was a creature of great age yet also great power. Blood oozing from a marr in the perfect flesh of his cheek, he stared longingly at each of the females in turn.

Suddenly rising from his half-finished meal, he slowly strode towards each of them, taking a seemingly brief whiff of their scent. He stopped momentarily at Tear, as she stared straight ahead, and whispered something under his breath. He stopped suddenly at Augusts' wife, and noticing something of her midsection, clapped his hands together as a wine merchant would at seeing an extremely rare and aged bottle. He slowly bent over this one and began to move lovingly over her neck. His dwarflike companion gave a squeal of delight as a dark liquid began to run down them both onto the tiled floor. Suddenly gliding away from his act, he swept towards Tear, staring ahead as the bloody wreck of Augustus' wife crumpled to the floor.

I could bear the sight no longer, and springing up from my perch, I swept towards the doorway, wrenching from my throat the name of her, Tear. The old monster snarled at my audacity, and smiling a hidden smile, stared ahead at my approaching form and bent down to watch as I watched him drain the life from Tear. Yet this was not to be so, as a fork of pale steel came up to meet the old monsters throat, grasped firmly in Tears' hand. She sprang away from the beast, tearing off what she could of her flimsy gown so as not to further hinder her movement.

I rushed past her, and pushing her aside I charged into the monsters face with blades drawn, his eyes being locked on Tear. Both blades sank deep within his neck, drawing a veritable fountain of blood forth as he slowly sank to the floor, his features becoming stony and hard, yet this great defense of his coming too late. The dwarf-like creature cried out then, grasping his head in dirty claws, he cried out in unknowable pain as his backbone snapped loudly and he ceased to move. We quickly untied Augustus and his concubine, and slinging each over our shoulders, made our way down the ruined staircase to the incline, down to the ship and into their berths, to better recuperate. Before setting them down, we checked each for any wounds or marks of attack, noting only the bruises on their heads, indicative of their unconscious state, somehow possibly worsened by the spell the monster had put over them. As we finished our inspection and closed and secured the hatch to the ship, we inspected each other for wounds, of which a many I had sustained unknowingly in my duel with the monster.