From Darkness It Comes

Secrets of the Dagger of Urnenthul

Darrin slowly reaches into his pack and pulls out the ornate wooden box Mr. Stark gave him. Madame Laveau watches with interest, but with an air of discomfort or worry. Darrin slowly unlatches the box and opens it to gaze upon the fancy knife with all the symbols carved into it. He turns the box to let Madame Laveau take a look.

"Could this have something to do with all this?" He says in a quavering voice. "Mr. Stark gave this to me and said it was important."

Madame Leveau's face pales and her mouth drops open with momentary surprise. "Do you know what this is, child?" But before either of them could answer she continued. "This is the Dagger of Urnenthul. This was believed to be lost over four hundred years ago. It was made during the Dark Ages in Eastern Moldavia by a group of friars."

"It is said that the blade was forged with the blood of a fallen demon folded into molten steel, of the highest grade and weapon quality the age had to offer, and cooled in a vat of holy water blessed by Pope St. Gregory the Great himself. It took the friars over six years of constant work just to form the blade itself."

"The etchings you see on the knife are a combination of holy runes the friars put there to seal in the dark blood it was made with and symbols that are said to have appeared after its forging by forces unseen. Attempts to remove them proved fruitless and eventually the blade became unworkable, nearly indescribable, and permanently sharpened by the conflicting forces it contained."

"The handle is said to be carved out of a single piece of Cherry wood harvested from the cradle of life, the believed location of the Garden of Eden. It was then banded with the strips of brass, said to come from the actual shield of Perseus, and inlaid with the pieces of bone from the body of Saint Eustace, the patron saint of hunters."

Darrin and Lisa just sit there in awe as they listen to the story of what they have held in their hands. Madame Laveau seems to pay no attention to them as she continues her tale. Instead her gaze has never left the blade.

"Once it was complete, a task taking over thirty years of gathering components and working them together, it was given to Sir Armon Blakethul to battle the evils of the world. He is the one who named it the Dagger of Urnenthul, as it was his intent to run the blade through all the dark things of the world in his battle against evil. This was to be his greatest weapon against the forces of the shadows and the ancient ones whose names are not to be spoken."

"When his time came near to the end he passed the blade to his young apprentice, Sir Arthur Tourdeth, who in turn passed it down through many generations of his own family. Each generation was known in certain circles for their work in battling the forces of darkness and defending the faith, although the church had turned against hem when the Spanish Inquisition started in the 1400's."

"It was then in 1611 that Malcolm Tourdeth was slain in an attempt to stop some unknown creature of shadow near Budapest. Neither the blade nor his body were ever found and both were believed lost to the darkness. Thus it has stayed the belief for nearly 400 years now, but I can see that Jacob has somehow found it and brought in here to give to you."

On this beat she looks up from the knife and stares seriously into Darrin's dark eyes. "This means he truly does believe you are the chosen one. For him to hand this over to you without so much as a struggle means there is no doubt in his mind and nothing either of could ever do would shake his faith in this belief. This dagger is a greater sign of this anything he could have said or done."

"But I'm nobody." Darrin says with an unsteady voice. "I'm just some dumb photography student who was singled out by this whacko."

Lisa pats his hand comfortingly, but the look of shock and fear on her face could not be hidden.

Madame Laveau shakes her head sadly and lowers her eyes. "He may be obsessed and it may have driven him over the edge of reason and safely, but I assure you that when it comes to matters of these kinds the signs can not be mistaken. He has marked you as the Chosen One whether or not you want such things to be true or not. There is little to do now but embrace your fate and hope to survive."

"Hope to survive?" Darrin blurts out.

"Jacob has unbalanced things here and only by knowing what he is up to and seeing first hand what things he plans to do can he even hope to repair the damage and put things right. Even then there will still be the matter of turning back the darkness before it manages to bring forth more of the shadow's touch. We are waging a war on two fronts here, child, and knowledge is the only weapon that can help us now. We need to figure out what he is up to, but he won't let me get near it."

Darrin gulps and looks at Lisa with a furrowed brow. He knows there is a way he can help, but doesn't want to be involved in any of this.