Camp Stonetooth E-Book

Jesse Wilson

• Herausgeber: Next Chapter
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

There is nothing easy about undeath in the Morglands. Young vampires need to prove themselves by passing various tests they call Camps... and the last one is Camp Stonetooth.

If they can pass Stonetooth, they will be let into the vampire society, and yound Boron, Talcen and Ticcen are looking forward to their turn.

But one of them has a secret: a dangerous treasure that could make them all rich once they get back. But after things take a dark turn, what could have fulfilled their dreams threatens to become their demise.

Leseprobe

Camp Stonetooth

Kingdom Chronicles Book 3

Jesse Wilson

Copyright (C) 2020 Jesse Wilson

Layout design and Copyright (C) 2020 by Next Chapter

Published 2020 by Next Chapter

Cover art by Cover Mint

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the author's permission.

Chapter One

Talcen sat on the couch watching television. The Unicorn incident in the Elroxian Capital was getting attention on the local news, that and the ending of the trial of Pen Kenders. Unicorn outbreaks happened and they weren't anything new.

The only unique spin on it was that Mocra Industries were behind it somehow, allegedly. Talcen wouldn't have been surprised if they were.

“Maybe it really is the end of the world? First the blades, then the Unicorn attack?” Talcen hissed. “All of this nonsense is making me miss my favorite show,” he said and was going to throw the remote control against the wall in frustration.

“Come on, you know how it is. When humans mess up and Unicorns attack everyone makes a big deal out of it. Also, I bet Pen gets off clean and easy as all humans tend to do,” Ticcen said and sighed as she came from around a corner into the room.

“Yeah, you're right,” Talcen replied and sighed. “Oh, Xy, I can't wait to get to camp,” he said to himself and stared out the window. The Morglands were as dark as ever. The dim light of the sun barely touching anything.

“Yeah, me either. I wish it was cloudy so we could go outside, that sun is brutal out there,” Ticcen said as she looked out the window. “Yeah, you said it. At least we have our Noxite,” Talcen said and was tempted to go outside to do something. Anything to break the boredom of being inside, with camp so close, the feeling of restlessness was strong today.

“Also, don't take the Goddess's name in vain, she just might show up,” Ticcen replied with a laugh. The older brother shuddered, he was frustrated and forgot that Xy could show up. She might not have appreciated the attention, but with her, according to all the stories it could have gone well, or terribly.

“Okay fine, you're right,” Talcen replied and turned up the television. The commercial came to an end.

“The jury is going to come back with their verdict in minutes. The world will learn the fate of alleged traitor Pen Kenders and –” the power went out and everything went black. “Man, I can't even watch the annoying thing, this sucks,” Talcen said and threw the remote down on the couch.

“Damn, well, I'm going to get a snack, do you want anything?” his sister asked and he sighed. “Do we have any bloodstones left?” he asked and she nodded. “Yep, we have a couple,” she said and walked off.

“I'm so sick of bloodstones, and everything else,” he said and threw his head back into the couch. “Before you know it, we'll be drinking blood and be given the blessing to walk outside at will. Just one more day and we get all of that started. Stop complaining already,” she replied as she walked back into the room.

She fell into the couch and tossed him a red crystal. He caught it without looking and in the same motion he sank his fangs into the side of it.

Bloodstones were what all neophyte vampires were forced live on until they went through their training, the rite of passage or whatever the council called it. It tasted like blood flavored with metal and it wasn't very filling. He couldn't wait to taste actual warm blood for the first time.

The thought of it was almost enough to distract him from the taste of the horrid fluid from this stone. Almost being the key word. He finished it and the red stone was clear and empty. He tossed the empty stone against the wall and it shattered.

“What the hell, man, why did you do that?” she asked him and jumped as it broke. “Who cares, you know the crystals just dissolve in the air anyway, so who cares?” he replied and didn't like her always nagging him about the most pointless things.

“I care, the shards don't always go away and when I step on them, it really pisses me off,” she replied and glared. “Do you know how long it takes to pull these shards out of your feet, do you?” she asked and kept glaring.

“No, because they go away. I've never stepped on one and I don't know how you manage to do it at all,” he said and was getting in a bad mood. Everything was getting on his nerves. He just wanted to go to the last training camp and be allowed to drink blood and get access to the whole reason vampires were clearly superior to the rest of the races in the world.

“Well, think of it this way, once we go through the camp, we never have to go to another one, aren't you going to miss this, even a little bit? It wasn't all bad,” she said and held her empty crystal in the palm of her hand as it dissolved in front of her eyes.

“No. Not even a little bit,” he replied.

Sitting here in the dark, the world outside seemed to disappear. The sunlight all but shut the Morglands down. Most of the other vampires stayed home and there were still many hours left. Then the phone rang on the end table beside him. He picked it up and pushed the answer button.

“Hello,” he said.

“Yeah, come on, the sun is out. We can't go out right now and neither can you,” he replied and this got her attention. “I'll ask her,” he said and put the phone down. “Boron wants to know if we want to come over,” he said. Ticcen looked around, the power was out and there was no telling when it would come back on.

Ever since Mocra had their disaster, the power wasn't reliable. “Oh, what the hell, let's get out of here,” she replied and he smiled as he picked the phone back up.

“Sure, we'll be right over,” he said and waited for a quick moment. “Yeah, see you later,” he said and hung up. “I'll go get the Noxite,” he said and stood up slowly. He threw the phone to her. “Catch,” he said and laughed. She wasn't expecting it and fumbled it as she did her best to catch it. It fell to the floor.

“Damn it,” she said and picked it up. She checked the screen and had a sigh of relief when she saw that it wasn't broken. “This is super expensive. Please try not to throw it, okay?” she asked and he just smirked as he walked away to get the Noxite.

“Good talk,” she replied and rolled her eyes in frustration. Her brother was a nightmare to deal with now. How in the world was he going to be when he was granted Xy's blessing? It was impossible to say exactly. She was just glad that living with him was going to be a thing of the past in a few short days.

She stood up as soon as he came back with the Noxite pendant. Like everything else of value, he tossed it to her, not wanting to take the extra steps to hand it to her. She caught it because by now, the past twenty years, she had grown accustomed to this laziness from him.

“Did Boron say if he had a reason for wanting us to come over or was it just a random thing?” she asked him and he just shrugged. “I don't know, he sounded the same as he ever does,” he replied and put the pendant around his neck. She did the same thing.

“Oh well, it sounded like he still had power at least,” he said and walked to the door, opened it. To anyone not a vampire, the Morglands in the middle of the day would have seemed dark and depressing. However, to young vampires like them even this amount of light was still painful to the eyes. The Noxite pendant began to glow a dull blue as the dim rays of light hit it.

The damaging effects of the light were canceled out but it was still difficult to see for them both as they walked outside.

“I got the keys,” he said and she figured he did. He loved to drive. The walked to their green car and he pushed the button to unlock the door. She opened the door and got in. The windows were made of Noxite too and tinted. Her eyes stopped burning when she closed the door. Talcen got in too and rubbed his red eyes as he closed the door. “Just a few seconds,” he said as he recovered from the light outside. Then he put the keys in, started the car.

“Alright, and we are off,” he said, she rolled her eyes. “Do you have to always narrate everything you do? I'm literally right here. I know we're off,” she said and was annoyed.

“I guess not, I just. I don't know. It's a habit okay,” he replied and rolled his eyes. He knew he was annoying sometimes but most of the time he didn't even realize the things he said. Sometimes it was just in his head, other times it was out loud and telling the difference was not always easy.

“Yeah, I guess. Let's just get there. All this time outside in the day is driving me nuts,” she replied and looked out the window.

It was a cool, calm day. All the excitement in the world was a thousand miles away. She dreamed what it had to be like being on the frontlines of a Unicorn outbreak or the Blade Apocalypse where the details were still coming in over the news, more every day.

Here in the Morglands, existence had been the same as always. Even if the King and Queen had been held hostage by the Mist Blade, everything turned out just fine. Everything was always just fine and boring as it had been.

Talcen drove off down the road, between the quiet houses. The village of Muid was small, typical and like most other places in the Morglands, abandoned in the daylight hours. Boron's house wasn't very far from their own, but in the daylight, traveling by car it felt like forever. What little powers they had, in the daylight, abandoned them.

“At least we don't half to walk,” Ticcen said and Talcen looked at her. “If we had to walk we never would have made it. Noxite only lasts for a few hours and we are both super slow walkers. We would have just would have stayed home,” he replied and she wondered how vampires ever got along before the invention of cars.

The Morglands must have been much more depressing than they were now, she thought.

Talcen took a left and soon Boron's house could be seen in the distance. It wasn't anything special. Just a one story, small house. Boron was standing outside. He was a tall, skinny elf, but a vampire like the rest of them. The Morglands were a unique part of the world. Almost anyone could be a vampire, but once they were, what they used to be no longer mattered.

Talcen pulled to the side of the street, shut the car off. Both of them got out at the same time. “Well, it's my favorite trolls,” Boron said and smiled. “Have you been waiting outside for us the whole time?” Ticcen asked and Boron shook his head.

“No, I just got out to see if you were here yet. You're not that far away after all,” he replied. It was about then Ticcen noticed the elf still had power.

“Generator, you shouldn't be without one in these turbulent times,” he said and stepped inside. “Come in. I have something I think you're going to want to see,” he said with a smile and the two of them just looked at one another.

“A surprise. It's not another gel fiend, is it?” Ticcen asked him and he laughed in response. “No, nothing like that this time. I could hardly believe it,” Boron replied and motioned them to come inside. The two of them were happy to get out of the overbearing sunlight and stepped inside.

Chapter Two

The three of them were inside and Boron was leading them through the house. “It's in the back, you got to see this,” he said with an increasing amount of enthusiasm and speed as they walked. It was clear whatever it was, wasn't in the house at all as they headed towards the large sliding door to the back of the house.

Boron slid the thing open and walked right back out. The two followed him and they couldn't believe what was laying on the ground in front of them.

“You found a Grave hound?” Ticcen asked and she backed off, a little afraid. “You're damn right I did. It's even intact, too,” Boron said with a big smiled. “Where did you find this thing?” Talcen asked and really wasn't feeling brave enough to get too close, even if it was inactive. “I found it on the outside. It was just lying there out in the open beyond the wall,” he replied.

“You went outside? You know that's forbidden,” Ticcen replied in disgust. Only bad things existed outside of the walls. She didn't even want to know how he got it back home. “Yeah. I know, but look at this thing,” he replied and continued. “The only thing it's missing is the soul crystal. I looked and couldn't find it. A collector is going to pay tons of money for this thing,” he said and crossed his arms.

“Or the patrol is going to do a fly over and see it. It's a grave hound. It's kind of hard to miss,” Talcen replied and shook his head a little. “I got the cover to hide it, so I'm not worried,” Boron replied. All of them were thankful that it wasn't active.

The Grave hound laid on the ground, it was nothing more than a giant dog skeleton. They usually stood about eight feet tall. “It must be over a hundred years old, I didn't think any were left,” Ticcen said and Boron shrugged. “I found it lying there like it was sleeping or someone left it there. One quick levitation spell and some quick feet. I had it back here in no time at all,” Boron said.

“Wait, it was sleeping?” Talcen asked and took a step back. “Yeah. All curled up. I spread it out just to see how big it really was,” Boron replied and then his mind went to the same thing that Talcen was likely thinking. “Oh, hell. You don't think this is some crazy necromancer's pet, do you?” Boron asked, all the sudden he became very nervous about having this thing so close.

“But you said it didn't have a soul crystal, so it can't activate without it,” Ticcen said, but that information didn't make anyone feel any better. “True but, still. Whoever owns this thing will come looking and necromancers are usually insane. And if it's here, that means it likely has a tracking spell on it,” Talcen suggested.

“Well, okay. Maybe we should just go back inside and maybe who ever owns it will just come find it. Take it and not say anything. If it's still here in a couple of days, I'm going to try and sell it and make enough money to never worry about money again,” Boron said, still hopeful that he just got lucky and didn't steal a necromancer's pet.

Even if it was just a mindless war machine. Necromancers got quite attached to their dead things. Grave hounds were not supposed exist anymore. Boron became increasingly afraid. “Well let's just go inside,” he said was the first one to go back into the house. “Right,” Talcen agreed and the two of them went back inside with him and slid the door close as they did.

“Well, who's excited for Stone tooth?” Boron asked as he sat in his chair. “This guy is,” Ticcen replied and pointed at her brother. “Yeah. I can't wait to get the blessing and start existing,” he said and sat on the couch. “Then we can get jobs and be proper cogs in the machine, I can't wait to be a cog. That's going to be so much fun,” Boron replied to him with a groan.

“What do you mean, you have a job now,” Ticcen replied and Boron shook his head. “Yeah but no one expects anything out of you. Unlife is good. Now after this we will be expected to do, you know, more,” Boron replied. Ticcen just rolled her eyes.

“You two have barely passed any of the trials of the other camps. What makes you think you can pass Stone Tooth? I've heard it has the hardest trials of all,” she said and the two of them looked at one another.

“Stories to scare newbies. Every single camp is the always the worst one ever. It's always the same. No one ever loses. Everyone passes. It's not like the olden days where failure meant extermination. You just keep trying until you pass,” Talcen said, he knew full well that if it was the old days, he wouldn't be sitting here right now.

He had to thank the new king every day for that.

“Stone tooth will be over before we know it. We'll be free of this twenty year probation period and then we can do whatever we want. Hell, you could even be a knight if you wanted,” Boron said. Talcen laughed. “Me, a knight. I don't think so. I'd be a really bad knight,” he replied. He tried to imagine it, him in a suit of armor and failing miserably. He banished the thought.

“How did that Kenders case turn out? The power went out at our place,” Talcen figured he'd ask, at least ask. He was forced to watched it this whole time he might as well know how it ended. “Nope, no idea,” Boron replied. “I've been on the net most of the time and just watching other stuff. I don't pay attention to real world crap, you know that,” he replied to them Talcen just sighed in disappointment but it wasn't terrible.

He didn't care that much. “Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter how it turned out, it doesn't affect me either way,” he said and then there was a knock on the front door. “Are you expecting someone else?” Talcen asked and they went quiet. The knock came again, a little louder this time. “No,” Boron replied.

Ticcen tensed up. There was a Grave hound in the back yard and they had just got done talking about a necromancer. Now a knock on the door. Is there anyone else it could have been? Her mind started to run away with her. “I'll go see who it is. It could be anyone,” Boron said, swallowed as he stood up and walked towards the door.

“If it's the necromancer we're running out the back,” Talcen whispered. “What about Boron?” his sister replied. “Screw him he brought the necromancer on himself,” Talcen replied and almost smiled. He didn't want to leave his friend behind, but his friend was stupid enough to bring home a necromancer's pet or its personal assassin.

Footsteps started coming back down the hallway and the two of them started to tense up. Boron came down the hall and a shorter figure was behind him. It was a cop. “Hey, kids. I'm Officer Denhar. Nice to meet you. Where's the undead monster?” he said. The man was a human vampire. His eyes were red and skin was pale.

“I'll never tell, no I won't. It's mine and I'm going to make lots of money on that thing,” Boron said and his eyes flashed toward the two of them.

“Listen. I know it's close by. If I found it, the Necromancer who it belongs to won't be far behind. Where is it, now,” he said again. “Hey, cop. How do we know you're not the necromancer and once we tell you, you'll just dust us anyway,” Talcen asked, he had a sudden boost of bravery that came out of nowhere.

“Hey, kid. If I was a necromancer you'd all be dead by now. I'd have no reason to knock on the door, now would I?” he said and raised a good point. None of them had ever heard of a polite necromancer before. “It's in the back. It's in the back, take it,” Ticcen said, she didn't want to get into trouble because of two idiots trying to lie to the cops.

Denhar looked towards the back sliding door. “Thanks,” he said as he walked around Boron and to the back. He looked out the window and saw it lying there on the ground. “Good,” he said and took the radio from inside his long coat.

“Yeah I'm going to need an isolation unit out at my location and a transport. I have three that need a ride to the station who need to answer some questions,” he said into it. “Got it, we're on the way,” a voice responded.

“Hey, three? We only saw it just before you did. Why do we have to go too?” Talcen asked and Delhar shot a glance at them. “You didn't answer my questions and its procedure,” he replied but never looked at the two of them, keeping his eyes on the dormant weapon in the back as if it was going to get up at any moment and kill them all.

“Trust me, it's procedure and it's not like you newbies have anything to do in the next couple of weeks anyway,” Delhar replied to them. “Yeah, we actually do. We're taking the Stone tooth trials tomorrow, leaving just after the sun goes down. We can't be in some cell,” Boron replied to him and it sounded more like a whine than anything else to anyone who was listening.

The cop's red eyes looked at them. “Stone tooth, eh. So, you live around here then I assume?” he asked them. “Yeah, we live close. You've got to believe us. All we did was come over, we haven't been here more than twenty minutes before you got here,” Ticcen said, but tried to keep her voice to not sound like she was begging or anything. There was still a dim chance they weren't going to get taken away to get asked questions neither of them knew the answer too.

Delhar stared at the three of them. “Stone tooth is a pretty big deal. Alright. You three will be questioned when you get back,” he said and picked up his radio. “Cancel the transport unit, we'll just take the Hound for now,” he said into it. “Got it,” a voice replied and was unquestioning in its tone. “You three might not make it back, so just quick. Where did you find this thing?” Delhar asked them. Boron shook his head.

“Fine, I went outside and it was just lying there. As if it was uncovered by the sand or something,” he said. “Then I used a levitation spell and brought it home. It didn't even have a soul crystal or anything in it. The dog thing couldn't get up even if it wanted to,” Boron said and shrugged. “I thought it was harmless and an easy way to make some money,” he said.

Delhar nodded then. “All of you newbies are the same. You all want easy money so you risk your eternal essence to get it. Going outside, you're crazy. However, if you live through Stone Tooth and after all this is over let me know. I may have a job for you,” Delhar said and listened as the sounds of a truck pulled up outside.

“Does this mean we can go home?” Ticcen asked and the officer rolled his eyes. Just give me your name and information and yes, you can go home. I'll be contacting you when you get back,” he replied. Boron still looked nervous about something. Delhar was eyeing him.

“Is there something you want to say to me?” the cop asked him. “No, I. Well, I just feel really stupid about all of this now. I mean, who would have bought a grave hound anyway?” he asked and looked to the floor. “Necromancers who'd just kill you once they got what they wanted,” Delhar replied and shrugged.

“Necromancers aren't exactly the best business people, you know? In all my years doing this job I don't think I've ever met one who's actually paid. They are pretty death happy. I mean, it's literally in their name,” Delhar said as the front door opened. Two figures walked through dressed in black robes and didn't pay any attention to the four in the room.

The walked right to the backyard to the hound. They watched as the two mysterious figures waved their hands over the skeleton, mutter some kind of alien words. The skeletal hound disappeared and so did they in a bright blue light.

“I'll be back, Boron. You and your friends have good luck at Stone Tooth. And if you survive, remember. I'll be waiting,” Delhar said to them, turned and walked himself out.

Chapter Three

“Holy Snozbucket, that was close,” Boron said as the door closed and he let loose a sigh of relief. “The both of you owe me because you were this close to going to jail instead of going to Stone Tooth, you're welcome,” TIccen said to them and her brother almost wanted to give her a big hug right then and there, but he resisted.

“As soon as we can go to a blood bar, I'm buying you the first drink,” Boron said with a big smile. “And the second one is on me,” her brother said with a smile.

“Well, I don't know. But I've had one excitement for one day. Let's go home and get ready to get for the last training camp we'll ever need to go to,” Ticcen said and stood up. She didn't want to be here anymore. Anything to do with the cops or necromancers and that was more than enough for her. Boron was more her brother's friend than hers anyway.

She always just came along for the ride and usually had to sit through a video game session or something like that. “Yep, I'll see you all tomorrow,” Boron said to them as they all stood up.

If they were still alive, they might have felt weaker than they did. Being a vampire had its perks, the physical effects of emotions no longer applied. But the mind didn't forget how it felt. Talcen and Ticcen quickly made their way to the door and back to the car. Their Noxite began to glow in the dull sunlight and did its best to protect them both. Boron waved them off and shut the door.