Murder in the Masses

Burgh de Rott, Night:

Dirth settled down into his poor excuse of a bed. He was expecting some Vampyres to scout, as they only discovered Burgh de Rott's presence recently. He had planned to hide from them with the other villagers, but that was aborted since Vampyres had a great sense of smell.

But Dirth couldn't sleep. The door creaked open, and the dust whirled into the air. There was a mini-tornado in front of him, now forming into a humanoid shape. A ghost. A very familiar one. Dirth went paler than usual.

"Brother Dirth, remember me."

"Brother Hirtho?! I knew there were undead stalking the land, but this is crazy..."

"You still have a sense of humor, even in these dark times. I escaped the confining shadows to warn you. This village is in grave peril."

"Well, we already know the Vampyres and shades are after us...."

"I am talking about a greater danger. Remember when we were children, there were tales of the Apoca Lypse?"

"Yes, but he died. He is ancient history, living in a time when Morytania was called Hallowvale..."

"Death is not the limit. I am proof of that."

"I am so sorry brother, I could not save you from the foul tentacled swamp-thing so many years ago."

"It was not your fault. But I must return to the shadows, before the Reaper finds out..."

He disappeared. Dirth was left to ponder about who was the greater danger; Apoca Lypse or Drakan?

Burgh de Rott, Morning:

Dirth told the village and the Wanderer the events of last night. No one was familiar with the famous murderer except for the Wanderer. But Dirth had a mysterious past; the village had just found out he has a dead brother.

"The Vampyres now know of a run down village by the name of Burgh de Rott, and we need to make ourselves scarce. We can worry about this killer of yours later" Edward said.

"My brother doesn't lie, especially a dead one...." Dirth replied coldly.

"Is his name really Apoca Lypse? Its way too stupid...." mocked Luna.

"Obviously its an alias. I know of Apoca Lypse, yet he is dead. But death is not the end, especially in Morytania. In this state, he could kill Drakan and the Vyrewatch, seeing as you can't kill something that is already dead..." Wanderer said.

The villagers started to map out where they would go, but there was a huge snapping in the swamp.

"I don't think we can go through the swamp, with Deinoscorpio around."

"We should go to Port Phasmatys, where we can get a boat and go" Tamron said.

"But we risk getting seen by Vampyres, because we must travel by the walls of Sanguinesti to get to Phasmatys without venturing into the swamps"

Tamron swore under his breath, as night fell.

Before Dirth could get a move on, the Wanderer stopped him.

"I sense a disturbance in the aura of this village. Take care of yourself tonight."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Deinoscorpio doesn't stay in one place. Trouble is brewing. A certain killer could be on the loose. Do you believe this?"

"No."

"Believe what you will. Personally I would have called myself Arm Ageddon, or Doctor Doomsday." Wanderer joked, before disappearing.

Dirth went to bed, making sure there would be no unexpected visitors. He slept. A shadow fell on his bed, and there was a strange being towering the sleeping Dirth. It had a mask, which was bright white, with big but empty eye sockets. The mask had nothing else on it. But suddenly, the being's arm transformed into a large bayonet-like knife and stabbed. Red liquid was squirting everywhere.

Dirth woke up with a scream, and saw Apoca Lypse before him. Dirth's late night snack of red berries was stabbed, but Dirth was not harmed.

Dirth got up slowly, while Apoca tried to stab him with his strange arm. Then the wall smashed down and Dirth ran. Apoca Lypse disappeared.

Dirth ran to Edward, who was not asleep.

"The killer is here. He tried to kill me!"

"Sure he did. And I'm rich, living in a freaking castle with my loyal servants and not in this damned country!" Edward shouted angrily.

But Apoca had sneaked up behind Edward and stabbed him in the leg. Edward turned round, and ran with Dirth.

"Now do you believe me! We have to warn the village!"

"I'm losing blood! I can't go on!" Edward screamed. Edward collapsed, but Apoca ignored him. The killer was after Dirth.

But the Wanderer saved the day. He was holding a strange potion and launched it at Apoca. The icon of terror dissolves into dust.

"What in the name of Saradomin is that?!"

"Its none of your concern. Anyway, Mr. Lypse will be back, so we have to get a move on. Oh yeah, I have evacuated all the villagers to that broken ship on our coast. I have blessed the ship, no evil spirits can enter."

"But Edward has been stabbed! We have to rescue him!"

Both of them ran over to his body, but it wasn't there. They looked on, and saw strange clawprints on the ground. The gate had been smashed open, with a trail of blood.

"Hes been taken! But who ---"

"My potion isn't the problem. Something has sniffed out his blood and taken him."

"Wait, over there! Hes right over there, near the wall of Sanguinesti! Hes been left to die!"

"We must get him, Dirth without being spotted. Quick!"

They ran to Edward stealthily and carried him back to the village. But they froze, as the shadow of a Vampyre was above them, drawn to the scent of blood.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

"DUCK!"

Wanderer got his potion and threw it. The Vampyre exploded, but luckily no one saw.

"Damn. Its out of juice!"

"How did you kill a vampyre?"

"You saw it, i loaded garlic, silver and red spider eggs into the potion, and blasted it back to Hell."

They carried Edawrd back to the blessed ship, but Edward was still alive. They patched him up, while Dirth and the Wanderer went outside.

"Apoca is still out there. We have to combat it, or else the whole planet is in danger!" Wanderer cried.

They walked to the center of Burgh de Rott, but the Wanderer looked around. Four unhuman eyes were watching them in the shadows. The Wanderer saw the shining eyes, but blinked. The greedy eyes disappeared.

Hours Later

Dirth and the Wanderer were sitting around the camp fire, waiting in silence. That's when the leaves rustled and something formed out of the dust. The spooky mask of Apoca Lypse made a third debut. The strange bayonet arm stroke at the Wanderer's potion, and it shatters.

But the Wanderer had another trick up his sleeve. He cast crumble undead, but this spell was hundred times more powerful than the original. The spectre started shaking uncontrollable, and then a burst of light came out of it, and Apoca exploded.

But the remains started forming back to Apoca Lypse. But then, the evil spirit started turning into Hirtho, Dirth's brother.

"Hirtho? You became the next reincarnation of Apoca Lypse?"

"I'm sorry brother, but since you left me to die it turned me insane. You never helped, or called for it. You watched, as if you were enjoying it!"

That was when Hirtho evaporated into nothing, leaving Dirth nearly into tears. They went back to the ship and called the coast clear.