Of Nightmares Slain

I don’t even know where to begin… Rahadin is dead. I can’t even believe it sometimes… he has haunted my dreams and nightmares for as long as I can remember, that spectre in the flames of my village, that I can hardly believe that he is no more. If I am feeling this way, I can’t even begin to imagine what Kasimir must be feeling right now… he has personally been hunting Rahadin for… I have no idea… centuries at least.
 
But, I suppose that I should start at the beginning… after I went to bed last night, I guess that Kasimir had taken Ireena back to the cathedral for the night… as she feels safer by the Bones of St. Andral, and she probably is, if everything that I’ve heard so far is correct. But, I digress… I was woken up only an hour or two after going to bed by a loud commotion downstairs.
 
I threw my clothes on and ran down, grabbing my gear just in case. Ireena was in the door, panting and out of breath. She gasped out that Rahadin was here, and he was fighting Kasimir in the road. Trevor was already running out the door by the time she finished her sentence. A couple of the others woke up their dwarf friend who was currently passed out on the table. At the commotion, Szoldazar and Yegvene emerged from their room, having already donned their gear and gripping their bows and axes.
 
We followed Ireena out towards where Kasimir was fighting. I found myself taken by a desperate hope that he would still be alive, that Rahadin hadn’t already killed the tormented elf I’d grown to respect in such a short amount of time. There was a massive commotion as we approached the fighting… and I could see that there were town guards fighting off countless wolves. There had to be at least three score wolves in the street. At the center of it all, Kasimir and Rahadin were locked in a duel. Blood was streaming from multiple cuts on both of them, and I couldn’t tell how badly either was hurt – it just looked bad.
 
Screaming and the howling of wolves was coming from the church up ahead. I saw Trevor tear off down the road, weaving in and out of the fighting as I think only a hunter can do, as he sprinted his way to the church. I hoped he was going to be okay, running off by himself… but, if it was wolves up there, it should be right up his alley…
 
The dwarf woman must be a cleric of some sort, for she called upon “Moradin” and healed Kasimir as soon as we arrived. The fighting was furious. I backed myself up against the wall of one of the buildings lining the street because I didn’t want to chance a wolf coming up behind me unexpectedly, and I focused on helping the others.
 
A cloud of mist enveloped where Kasimir was fighting a short distance away and Rahadin was gone. I couldn’t tell where he’d gone, because I had a couple of wolves trying to rip my throat out. When I did manage to catch sight of Rahadin again, the bastard was on the roof closest to me.
 
I didn’t have anything that I could do to get to him – there was no way I was going to climb on the roof and go toe to toe with him in a duel, especially not after seeing the fucker fight. He would have cut me down like he did my entire village when they perished in the flames.
 
Oswald stepped up toward Rahadin and held his fist aloft, a look of utter concentration on his face. He uttered a spell, I didn’t catch what it was, but I figured it out when Rahadin froze… hold person. Rahadin couldn’t move at all and, judging by the look of intense disbelief and rage that contorted his disturbingly handsome face, he was as surprised as I was that it actually worked. I took full advantage of the opportunity that I didn’t think I’d ever get again and wreathed his body in the dancing purple flames of faerie fire. I figured that it would at least keep him from pulling any stealthy bullshit.
 
A few wolves broke off from the main fighting and lunged at me. One got a good bite in on me, but I managed to avoid the others – I’m very glad that I backed myself up against the wall so none of them could jump me from behind… for it seemed to be attacks from behind were what was taking down the guards, when they did go down.
 
When I was distracted by the wolves, Oswald climbed up onto the roof along with Rahadin. Kasimir must have figured he was too far away, which makes sense, seeing as I was surprised he was still standing, what with all of the blood pouring from his wounds… Kasimir let out a cry of pure unadulterated rage and hatred, and sent a lightning bolt shooting straight for Rahadin’s chest. Oswald made it onto the roof right after Kasimir’s lightning bolt shot Rahadin square in the chest. Fortunately, he was far enough away that the lightning didn’t hit Oswald as well… he was only a few steps ahead of Kasimir, who was quickly making for the roof, but it was that little extra distance that gave him the time to raise his giant hammer over his head and calling upon the power of his god, smash Rahadin’s head in, completely crushing his helmet. I could barely believe it when Oswald kicked Rahadin’s body, and it came tumbling off the burning roof…
 
I just stood there for a minute… then it hit me… I felt and heard the screams… the screams of the countless people that Rahadin had murdered – their screams filled the air and pierced my ears. I got lucky though, for I saw most of the guards around me clutch their hands over their ears and collapse, dead, with blood pouring out of their ears and noses.
 
I looked around as soon as I was able to pull my gaze from the broken body of Rahadin. Kasimir was kneeling in the street, blood and rain mixing together as it ran rivulets off him. He was staring at Rahadin in disbelief. Oswald, Ireena and the dwarf cleric, Moira, looked to be in fairly good health. Brynden was hurt, but he looked like he would be okay. Szoldazar and Yegvene were also there, they looked to be okay, at least they were okay enough to begin the process of taking wolf pelts.
 
We heard commotion and screaming, accompanied by wolf howls, coming from the cathedral where Trevor had gone… we all took off running as fast as we could to help him. I found myself hoping that we would find him still alive by the time we got there – the howls were very ominous. I didn’t want Trevor to be dead…
 
As we drew closer to the churchyard, I could see the ongoing fight through the broken windows of the cathedral. Trevor was getting thrown around like a ragdoll by a giant werewolf. We sprinted into the church, and I got a closer look. Trevor was fighting the biggest werewolf I’ve ever seen. He was injured, probably badly, judging by the amount of blood seeping through and staining his shirt… Trevor yelled for us to check the bones.
 
I had forgotten all about the bones of St. Andral… oh shit…
 
“Damn it!” Trevor shouted. “Check the fucking bones!”
Ireena and Moira ran to go check, Ireena’s face turning white as she turned back to us. I knew they were gone before she even said anything.
 
The combatants were locked in a fierce wrestling struggle, but I was able to maneuver my way up to Trevor, close enough to touch him and deliver a healing spell. I immediately darted away, fortunately managing to avoid the werewolf’s attention… I didn’t want that one coming after me.
 
Brynden and Oswald jumped in to help Trevor, which royally pissed him off, odd, when he was in the middle of a fight – I mean, I know that Trevor has an ego, but come on… he looked half dead! When the werewolf was dead, it reverted back into its human form and I understood Trevor’s attitude a little more… it was Kiril. Shit. I wasn’t expecting that… I don’t know what I thought when the claw marks were on the tree and he was gone back on the road, but I didn’t think it would be this… or maybe I just didn’t want to admit it to myself. It was easier to think that the hunter I’d admired from the stories, up until quite recently, in fact, was dead instead of the leader of creatures he was supposed to hunt…
 
Trevor seems greatly pleased with himself that he killed Kiril with his own magical sword… asshole. I mean, I do understand that he’s jealous or whatever, but he really doesn’t have a need to be jealous… he has been proving himself to be a very capable hunter in the weeks he’s spent in Barovia. Slowly his fame will spread, and the name Trevor Belmont will fill the bedtime stories told to children to scare the nightmares away.
 
The bishop was badly wounded, apparently he was holding his guts inside his body when Moira went down to him – she managed to heal him enough to stabilize him and give him enough relief that he was able to speak with us. Apparently, the bones of St. Andral were taken at some point during the commotion.
 
Most of the occupants of the church are dead – Errki came back white-faced after going to the dormitory where some of the children lived… I do not think I even want to know… I’m just frankly glad that I didn’t go with him and Moira when they went to check on the children. Errki has a soft spot for children, especially after the Bonegrinder and his unknowing ingestion of the meat pastries filled with the flesh of children…
 
After everyone was back together, we talked to the bishop, and Van Richten, who had was there with his assistant, Esmeralda. I can’t say that I was happy to see the racist jerk, but he proved to be a great help with solutions for keeping the loss of the bones under wraps. If news gets out that the bones of St. Andral have been displaced, Vallaki will be in so much trouble… we will be in so much trouble…
 
The bones were the only thing that was keeping the city safe… as long as the bones were in their blessed state, Strahd couldn’t come into the city, nor could any of his undead minions. His other servants, Rahadin and the wolves at least, seemed as though they could come and go as they pleased. But now? Now, there is nothing stopping Strahd from finding out, and when he does find out that the bones are laying about somewhere and Vallaki is unprotected… it doesn’t even bear thinking about what the Devil might do…
 
We needed to find a way to locate the bones. The bishop mentioned that one of the altar boys, Milevich, hasn’t been seen in the past two days, and some of us felt like the boy was somehow intrinsically tied to the missing bones. Or at least, we wanted to find out if he knew anything.
 
We left to go find the boy. He lives at a local orphanage, so we decided to make our way there to look for him. On the way, Brynden mentioned that we needed someone who could scry on the bones, to see if we could find them that way, or at least get another real lead… or even to scry and see if we could locate the missing Milevich.
 
Oswald said that he knew someone who could scry. He explained that Blinsky uses the dolls as markers to track individual children. The others were really disturbed by it, and Errki looked positively murderous for a few minutes, but honestly, the opportunity outweighed the moral issue that they had with it. Or at least, that’s what it seemed like, because they were all really quick to agree to go talk to Blinsky.
 
When we passed the scene of the battle against Rahadin, we found his body, and Kasimir, both gone. I assume that Kasimir took the body with him and left to do whatever it is that he needs to do. Szoldazar and Yegvene were there, collecting pelts from the dead wolves. They looked up when we arrived, their attention immediately on Trevor, who for some reason was hauling Kiril’s body with him. Why he didn’t just leave him there at the church, I don’t understand… it must be a hunter thing or something.
 
Szoldazar went over to Trevor and they had a quick exchange. I don’t know what they said, but Trevor hung Kiril’s body on the wall while they talked. Really? Did he have to do that? I mean, okay… he was a werewolf, I get it… but Trevor didn’t have to hang his body out like a trophy. I didn’t catch what Trevor and Szoldazar were saying, but I caught a glance from Szoldazar right before Trevor hauled off and punched him in the face. When Szoldazar shrugged and turned around to walk away, Brynden punched him in the face. I don’t know what their problem is, but they need to get over it. We have more important things to worry about… besides… it would be smart if everyone remained on good terms with the two hunters, as they have already offered their services to guide us through the woods of Barovia for a reasonable fee. I’d hate to need them in a week, and have them up their prices on us…
 
Anyways, we arrived at Blinsky’s, and Oswald knocked on the door. Blinsky answered and took us into the back room where he keeps his ornate scrying mirror. I’m not going to go into much detail as to what the exact conversation was, but basically, Blinsky was able to locate Milevich by process of elimination. He tried to scry on the boy but was blocked by some kind of magic. The most information we were able to get about his whereabouts is that Milevich was in the orphanage. Something dark was blocking it though… and Blinsky said that for someone or something to be able to block out his ability to scry like that, it would have to be at least as strong as the Devil himself.
 
We made our way to the orphanage, and there was no light coming from the interior. I knocked on the door, figuring that if any of us were going to get a response, I would probably have the best chance of it. A woman cracked open the door. I could barely make out her face in the light of her single candle.
 
I asked if the boy Milevich was staying there. She said that he was, but she spoke in whispers, obviously petrified of something. I don’t know what, but I could only assume that it had something to do with the darkness that Blinsky’s spell was unable to pierce. I mentioned that Oswald was a paladin and hope sprang into her eyes as she opened the door wide.
 
The woman directed us upstairs and bade us to be quiet, insisting that we “not wake him” as he was finally sleeping. We went upstairs, well… the dwarf, Moira, and Oswald led the way upstairs. I could hear children sleeping fitfully in the rooms along the hallway. Another woman came out from one of the doors, looking very disturbed. She hurried past us and Oswald and Moira opened the door.
 
I don’t know or understand what was going on… but it was bad… There was a boy, I figured that it was Milevich, laying on a small bed in the center of the room. I could see red runes coming away from him and moving up the walls. They would disappear and then reappear as though in waves. I still don’t fully understand what was going on, but Oswald looked nervous – which is something that I honestly haven’t seen before… and that scares me.
 
Brynden was acting all protective, making sure I was behind him – I don’t know what has gotten into him these past couple days, but in this case, I didn’t even question it. I had no desire to be anywhere near that… whatever the “that” was that was going on in that room. Oswald and the dwarf did some divine magic stuff, and then Oswald picked up a black necklace from the boy. He held it carefully away from him and we left. Oswald, Moira and Brynden kept casting a protection spell on Oswald, maintaining it for the entire walk back to the cathedral.
 
They took it down into the room where the bishop and Van Richten were talking. They were saying something about the monks and word not being able to get out about the missing bones, but honestly, I didn’t pay too much attention. I was tired and Trevor was in the foyer with a fresh bottle of wine.
 
I needed a drink. Hell, I still need a drink, and Trevor, Brynden and I spent a good portion of the night draining the bishop’s stock of alcohol dry.
 
I had a couple really good conversations with the guys. Trevor told me a little about his family… which explains a lot… I get the impression that he has a lot that he feels like he needs to prove. Brynden actually talked about Elaine a little bit… I think he definitely needed that – seeing as he’s so closed off emotionally from everything except anger and a sort of hopeless depression…
 
Trevor now knows that Izek Strazni claims to be my brother. I don’t know… I did feel a connection with him in the Blue Water Inn, but he claimed that I don’t know him from anywhere. If he is actually my brother, wouldn’t I remember him, and wouldn’t he have told me?
 
Both Trevor and Brynden say that I should go talk to him, to give him a chance to explain. But I don’t know… he scares me…
 
The last thought in my mind when I laid down to sleep though, was wondering what happens to nightmares when you kill them? What happens to nightmares when the monster who haunted them you’re entire life was laying dead before your eyes not more than a few hours earlier…
 
Can a nightmare even be slain?...