Chapter 122 - A Deal With The Goat

Vladstin reached a big stone wall ridden with vines and leaves. He was sure the little goat went here, but he reached a dead end, it seems. 

No, he cannot be fooled. He is a vampire lord, what does this goat think he is?

He went straight into the stone wall.

He was right. Of course he was.

He found, waiting for him inside what is supposed to be a pure block of stone but was actually a hollowed clearing hidden by walls of vines, was a herd of mountain goats. That includes Cintho's pet, Ari, and the small goat that led him into this secret hideout. 

And most importantly, a bundle of leaves with an animal skull facing him. 

"Welcome, Vladstin." It said in a noticeably elder but bright and youthful voice. "It is an absolute pleasure to meet you."

"Hermit." Vladstin chuckled, knowing immediately from the goat mask. "To whom do I owe such pleasure of your presence?"

"Yourself." The Hermit answered. His face and lips surrounded by that long beard reaching to the ground cannot be seen from the mask, but Vladstin would assume he must be grinning from the infliction of his voice.

"Care to elaborate for me, good sir?"

"You have passed my test." The Hermit said. "And I have come to ask you to come here to congratulate you."

"What test?" Vladstin asked, looking at the small goat with big frightened eyes, finding it adorable. "You remind me a lot of a certain entity I encountered just from your mention of tests."

The Hermit scoffed. "I have no connection to Mandrien. He is a sort of menace, but he keeps clear from my territory." He moved faster, not seeming to walk but floating instead with his robes of dead leaves and goatskin cloak. "No, my test is far from his childish games of dreams and symbolism. I get the outcomes I desire for using more direct methods."

"Like sending a volcanic golem to kill me? And using a kaverkai to get rid of my corpses?" Vladstin grinned stepping closer too, not intimidated by the sheer height and size of the Father of Goats.

"Yes. But my intention is not to kill you, no."

"Huh. Then you and your agents must have different intentions."Vladstin said. "Hermit, I assume you already know what we came for your territory already. Now that I am in front of you, and you are in front of me, let us cut to the chatter. Will you, or will not accept it?"

"Accept what, dear child?" The goat skull tilted its head to the side.

"You say you are no different to Mandrien. But I fail to believe so. You are the same bothersome and riddling lot." Vladstin tried to approach Eis and pat its head, who hid below his father's legs. So instead, he patted Ari's head. "Hello, old pal. Remember me?"

"Of course, Vladstin. It is thanks to you that I was free of my bonds from the human family." 

Vladstin was amused, chuckling as he scratched Ari's chin. "You can speak human language now. Time flies so fast."

Ari showed no emotion in its plain-looking goat face with strange eyes. "However, it is unfortunate for the child to die."

"You mean Cintho, right?" Vladstin knelt one knee beside it. 

"Yes, that is why you must excuse me for not being too enthusiastic to see you. You have my thanks for bringing me into my new home, for being the catalyst of finding my herd and moving into the mountains with the Father Skull. But you simply....."

"Bring death everywhere you go, Vladstin." It spoke frankly, its teeth loudly clattering with each other as it spoke.

"Ah. I suppose I do. Thank you for reminding me." Vladstin nodded, giving a glance at the Hermit that just stayed quiet, observing his interaction with the goat. " Now, what does your Father Skull think of me? Does he want to turn me into a human or would rather end my life here and now? Because either way is acceptable to me."

"Is that what you assumed I was here to talk about?" The Hermit asked in an amused tone. "You are terribly wrong, Vladstin. I have no intention to make such an upfront decision without thinking it through, without calculating the consequences of either turning you to human or not turning you to human to the Thirteen Kingdom's future. It will take me a decade for that."

"Are you a slow-thinker, then?" Vladstin asked.

"No. Just a cautious one."

"Well, for all your caution, you should also know that indecision has its consequences. We do not have a decade to wait for you. A new kingdom is keeping us at a literal deadline." Vladstin was no longer smiling, crossing his arms. "And Leron would turn into a corpse puppet of mine too. So, have you also foreseen all this in your meandering on what path to take? That even if you do not pick a road, you can die of hunger, or simply old age, just waiting at the fork on the road and not picking one?"

"Oh, I am not such person, Vladstin. I did not become a Hermit because of my indecision." The skull mask shook a bit as he chuckled. "I have simply things I may not reveal until I have great assurance, and things I must not enact until I am capable of doing so. I am aware of the stakes and urgency of your own matters, but they do not hold the same for me."

"I have our little Eis, Ari's son, as you can see...." The Hermit's leaves parted a bit as he gestured to the big goat and the small goat, yet his hand is still unseen. "To take you here for a deal. For passing a test which I will not supply the intention nor the result of."

"And how can one trust someone who does not provide anything at all?" Vladstin narrowed his eyes.

"You do not. You simply make a deal, or not make the deal, even without trusting such being." The Hermit said. "Now, are you willing to listen, or not?"

"....I suppose I have time to spare before the humans look for me." Vladstin sat down on the floor littered with more leaves and thistles and bustles, his legs crossed. "Speak."

The Hermit seems to smile, then sat down as well, followed by his goat herd. It spoke without hesitation:

"While you were away, Leron would completely be overcome by vampirism and die. And you will not be able to stop it."

The vampire's eyes widened the same way little Eis did earlier.

"Why, you must be thinking." The Hermit assumed, chuckling. "Because it has already happened."

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Sangfroid and Leron had been looking for Vladstin for three days already. They had traveled and traveled, taking turns to carry Ofelia and her metal bucket on the stiff stone cliffs and slopes. Calling out his name.

"Vladstin! Oh, Holy Dragon Lord, please do not let anything wrong happen to him..... Cough! Cough! " Leron had been weeping and in distraught ever since Vladstin never returned after that dinner of fish soup, and it had affected his health immensely.

"Prince Leron, you must not strain yourself so much." Sangfroid, which was carrying Ofelia, said.  Their progress towards the apex had become noticeably slower now that they lack the strong and speedy vampire lord. Both of their health is deteriorating each day.

But for Sangfroid, him feeling exhausted is nothing. It is Prince Leron that he only frets about.

"Just stay here and rest. I cannot bear seeing you in this state. I will look for Vladstin by myself, I should have stopped you from traveling sooner." Sangfroid said, putting down the also weeping Ofelia.

"No... I must... Vladstin....."

Leron had lost all his voice from shouting, and has completely collapsed.

"Your Highness!"

Sangfroid checked his pulse. His body temperature is very high. Soon, the veins appeared again, and bubbles appear on the gaps of his mouth as he started frothing and shaking vehemently.

Sangfroid has only one thought in his head. This is all Vladstin's fault. Where in the hell is he????

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Vladstin listened to all of the Hermit's words staying silent.

"So let me recount it from bottom to top." Vladstin said, still looking unamused. "You wanted to find if the lengths of how much Sangfroid wants to protect me is limited to either his duties or love for Leron, and so you sent the volcanic monster. You find that such resolution is not enough, so you sent your bloodsucking insects to lessen Leron's health and quicken his transformation..... Just so you can see more of how Sangfroid truly thinks of me now that his beloved prince is out of the picture?"

"Yes. Is there something wrong about that?"

"All of it. For one, why are you so invested in matchmaking me and Sangfroif anyway?" Vladstin said.

"I am not matchmaking you two, it does not have to be any romantic connection. I am simply trying to gauge if he has any compassion for you, a true and pure desire for risking his life for you, not out of obligation from others?"

"And again, what is your intention in all this? What will you receive out of this, you who is a hermit and a guardian of a whole mountain to yourself? Entertainment?" Vladstin asked.

"If you really want to know... It is to counter someone who I disagree with."

'Who, then?" Vladstin was becoming impatient of this goat skull.

"I do not need to say anything besides him being a stubborn friend of mine," The Hermit said, standing up. "Consider my offer. If even after Leron's transformation, you manage to sustain a connection between you and Sangfroid that counters everything: principles, differences, life, and death... Then I will give you what you want. Whatever that may be, whether turning you to human or..... something else."

He wished his caped, and turned around, followed by his got herd to the other side of the hidden quarters by the stone wall.

Vladstin only gave a brief chuckle, standing up while looking at his right hand. " No need for consideration, I already made my choice."

He rushed up with incredible speed, aiming to take the Hermit's heart!

"I do not make any deals with someone else unless I was the one who proposed it."

But then....

Leaves spiraling in the air, skull mask and cloak clanging to the ground. The goats ran in absolute fright. The winds blow past Vladstin's ear...

As if in a triumphant cackle.