Easily my favorite character from The Legend of Istavia

I’ll let Vreith tell you about himself with a snippet from the book (Zalek is a little boy he has just rescued from some particularly nasty creatures called gorvires):

Zalek wrenched his eyes back open, escaping the horrible pictures that threatened to torment him, and with a chill he found himself alone. The cloaked man was nowhere to be seen.

Casting about for any sign of his mysterious companion, he called out timidly, “Hello?”

A dark shape sprang up next to him, as if it had leapt from the shadows cast on the stone floor. Zalek jumped and gasped in fright. The man didn’t apologize for his startling appearance, but only looked down on the boy with a neutral expression. When Zalek didn’t speak for several moments, he prompted, “Yes?”

“W-who are you?” asked Zalek.

“A shadow.”

“Don’t you have a name?”

“Yes.”

Silence.

“Are you going to tell me?”

“Perhaps.”

Zalek stared at the man for several long moments. When the man didn’t answer, Zalek introduced himself. “I’m Zalek.”

There was another long moment of silence, then the man finally said, “Vreith of the Nocturi.”

Nocturi. Zalek had never heard the term before, so he asked, “What’s a Nocturi?”

Vreith released a long sigh, and the cold irritation in his voice made Zalek regret his question. “The Nocturi are an elite order of Lunadrel warriors. And since I know you are going to ask, Lunadrel are creatures of shadow. We are born of shadow, and should we die our bodies return to shadow. We live our lives in darkness and protect the world from evil.”

“Like the gorvires?”

Vreith nodded. “And worse.”

The Legend of Istavia and related characters © James Colton
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