October 2, 2024. (Guest Submission by Noah Witt)

Spooktober Holdover Single x

As it turns out, the world 𝘪𝘴 a vampire.

One that can be slain.

But it is 𝘐, Jon, who was sent as a secret destroyer.

To hold the vampire world and expose it to flame.

As for my pain, well, you’ll see.

I knew. I still know.

The guild saw me, cool and cold.

I’ve done well thus far.

In order to remain undetected I strip naked and paint my body midnight blue.

I paint my teeth, too, because I tend to smile as I smite.

I get the sense that my fellow guild members don’t believe in me.

They laugh at my naked form.

Slay the vampire, they say.

Slay the world.

Why don’t they do it?

Why won’t they help me?

The townsfolk need a spectacle, they say.

They need the novice to stand in glory.

To create a new legend.

I think I get it.

I feel the urge.

The support, however ethereal.

There can only be one, and the only one is me.

I grab my staff and my knuckles whiten.

The reincarnate.

They who made the sea stand still.

They who must be reborn.

They who must die once more, and then again.

I stand, backed only by spirit but not by force.

Alone.

I venture.

I journey.

I quest.

And yet, despite all my rage, I am still just a level 2 mage.