Elaine Cunningham - The Best of the Realms, Book I

Kith shrugged. "She learned the tale from her father,the bard Finder Wyvernspur, and that is how he told it to her. Bards arenotorious for manipulating the facts for their own purposes. But I know it wasnot the tale's true ending. I was staying at the inn in Serpentsford when Aliastold the story," Kith explained, "and when she finished a woman inthe audience accused her of lying and slapped her."

The students gasped, even Marl.

"The woman had been the Swanmay magelingKasilith," the teacher explained. "She was only twenty-seven, but shelooked fifty at least. She told Alias and the villagers the story's trueending."

"Which was?" Marl prompted.

"Kasilith was supposed to teach Stelly to readand write," Kith said, her voice laden with bitterness, "but insteadthe two girls spent the winter playing frivolous games with magic and toyswords and their hair and dresses. When Stelly found the locket in thepenanggalan's cloak she couldn't read it. The apprentice had no way ofdiscovering that the noblewoman was the penanggalan, and even if she hadsuspected anything upon hearing the weaver cry out that night, the girl didnot know enough of her letters to write anything on the back of the monster'scloak. The next night the noblewoman returned to free Stelly. She freed herfrom her life, by draining all the blood from her body."

"Oh, no," Jewel whispered.

"Oh, yes," Kith replied.

"Did they ever catch the penanggalan?" askedTodd, the baker's son. "Wait a minute!" the boy exclaimed. "I'llbet it was the same penanggalan in Westgate that was in Serpentsford. Kasilithwas still hunting her to avenge Stelly's death, wasn't she?"

"That is what she told Alias and her companion,Dragonbait," Kith answered.

"So, did they catch the penanggalan?" Marl asked.

Kith continued. "Alias had a shard of thefinder's stone, an old broken artifact. If you held the stone and had a clearpicture of someone or something, the shard sent out a beacon of light in thedirection of whomever or whatever you wanted to find. Kasilith said she'd seenthe penanggalan's human body once, so Alias gave her the stone. Its light ledthem to a lair hidden underground, where the penanggalan's torso lay on a bierof fresh pine branches. The monster's head was not there; it would returnbefore dawn, but now it was off hunting.

"With an exalted air, Kasilith used her magic toburn the body. Without its torso the penanggalan would not be able to hide itstrue nature again. If the head was struck by the sunlight and did not return toits torso within a few hours, it would rot, so the penanggalan would not beable to travel in the daylight anymore, either. The adventurers hid themselvesand waited for the penanggalan's head to return."

"And did it?" Marl asked. He sat on the edgeof his seat.

Kith shook her head.

"Then what happened?" Jewel prompted.

"Alias and Dragonbait and the villagers searchedeverywhere. For days and nights they looked for the penanggalan orits remains. They found no other secret lairs, nor did they find any othervictims of the penanggalan. They hoped that the creature had been struck bysunlight and had rotted, but Alias would not give up the hunt until she hadpositive proof the penanggalan was dead.

"Kasilith did give up, though. She was just aboutto leave the village when a great snowstorm came down from the northeast.Travel in any direction outside the vale was impossible for nearly a tenday,and so she remained. The mage grew remote and haggard in appearance. The snowstormbroke, but by then Kasilith was so ill she was too weak to leave her bed. Hertraveling companion, a pretty foundling girl called Jilly, remained at herbedside.

Then one night, just as Alias and her companionDragonbait were about to leave the inn for the hunt, Dragonbait turned aboutand hissed. Now, Dragonbait came from a strange race of lizard creatures calledsaurials, but really they're no different from you and me. Dragonbait was apaladin, a champion of the god of justice, and just like a human paladin hecould sense the presence of evil. He dashed up to Kasilith's room with Aliashot on his heels. The pair smashed open the door.

"Something lay on Kasilith's chest, nuzzling ather neck. For a moment Alias mistook it for a sleeping toddler. It had silkystrawberry blond hair, which Kasilith stroked with one hand. The mage's otherhand was wrapped around what appeared to be a child's arm. Then the innkeepcame to the door with a lantern, and Alias could see the thing lying onKasilith was a penanggalan. It was lapping at the blood that oozed from twowounds on the mage's throat, and a glistening black tail attached to the fairhead writhed like a snake beneath the mage's hand.

The innkeep dropped the lantern and fled. Alias gaggedin spite of herself, and the penanggalan raised its head and hissed. It had theface of Kasilith's traveling companion, Jilly. Jilly's headless torso lay onthe bed beside the mage. The monster rose from the bed, its eyes glowing red,blood gurgling down its throat. In a raspy voice it called out its victim'sname and flew toward the window, but its escape was blocked by the saurialpaladin and his magically flaming sword. Alias slammed the door shut, trappingthe monster in the room with its victim and the two adventurers.

"The penanggalan could fly, but the room'sceiling was low, and Alias's sword was long. She pressed the monster into acorner and was just about to deliver a killing blow when her back exploded withthe pain of five magical darts sinking into her flesh. Alias whirled around insurprise. Her eyes widened in shock as she discovered it was Kasilith who'djust attacked her. The mage was not just the penanggalan's victim; she wasprotecting the undead beast as well.

"Dragonbait threw himself on Kasilith, preventingher from casting any more magic, but the penanggalan, taking advantage ofAlias's diverted attention, had turned on its attacker with a vengeance. Itswooped down upon the swordswoman and lashed its tail about her neck. Aliasflailed her sword awkwardly over her head while she tugged at the creature'stail to keep it from choking her. The tail felt slimy, like a decaying piece ofmeat, and it stunk of curdling blood. Realizing she hadn't long before themonster crushed her windpipe, Alias tried a desperate measure. She dropped hersword and snatched her dagger from her boot sheath.

"A second later she'd slashed the penanggalanalong the length of its tail. Hot blood gushed down on her, momentarilyobscuring her vision. The penanggalan sank its teeth into her cheek. Droppingher dagger, Alias grabbed the hair at the monster's temples and ripped it fromher, smashing it into the wall over and over, until she had crushed its skull.The tail about her throat went limp and slid from her. Alias dropped themonster on the floor and, retrieving her sword, cleaved its head in two.

"An inky cloud rose from the monstrous head,shrank to a pinpoint of blackness, then vanished. From the bed, Kasilith sobbedout, 'Stelly,' and Alias realized what must have happened."

Kith paused in her story and hung her head for a moment.She breathed in deeply and let her breath out slowly.

"Jilly was Stelly," Todd cried out. "Noone had cremated Stelly's body," the boy speculated, "so she became apenanggalan. But what about the other penanggalan? The one whose body Kasilithdestroyed?" the boy asked. "Was that the one that killedStelly?"

Kith shook her head. "No, the Swanmays didfinally find and destroy that one. There was no other penanggalan. Kasilithcreated an illusion of the body and destroyed it so Alias would think themonster was dead and would go away."

"But Alias was too thorough a hunter, and didn'tleave," Marl noted.

"And when Kasilith and Stelly were trapped inSerpentsford by the snow, Stelly had to feed on Kasilith so she wouldn't getcaught," Todd added.

"And Kasilith helped Stelly even though she was apenanggalan because she was her friend," Lisaka said.