Gnome Blood

Spring, 1501

It's been three days of siege now. I'm writing on this separate piece of paper since I couldn't find my notebook. It's reasonable to think that they've stolen it. If so, I have only a few more days to live. Not that I'm sad about it, I feel even a bit relieved. All this sickness and tiredness will go, or at least I hope so. I've been vomiting every two hours or so and my body hurts. I suppose dying would be a generous punishment for me. But I fear they won't be so kind.

It's already very late at night and I can hear them outside. I've been trying to get some sleep but it is useless. So I decided to put down everything I can in these notes before everything is over. The world deserves to know my accomplishments.

The headaches are getting worse. I wish I could get some more gnome blood into my veins. But that's in the past. When I first caught the little creature I was thrilled. The first gnome I captured was so nasty and ugly it disgusted me. It bit my hand and took my little finger off, then ran away carrying my finger with him. But I would have my revenge and the next one I caught got what he deserved. I felt no remorse when I did what I did. His insides were not much different than the rabbits I usually open. No evident magical source. I would normally keep its parts inside preserving glasses, but then I wouldn't be able to test the magical effects of eating them.

Eating magical beings, or injecting their blood, as I later found out, gives you not only unimaginable magical powers but also an extraordinary feeling of pleasure and well being. Once you've tasted it you'll just want more.

I got better at making the traps and captured two more gnomes. They were different though, more sympathetic and less aggressive. I felt they could be great pets. But I was already addicted. And the effects were wearing out. I needed more.

The idea of taking their blood was of my own. I couldn't take the risk of not capturing more of them, so instead, I decided to keep them caged and alive to just use their blood. I am proud to say it worked very well.

Right now, I'm locked inside a chamber tower hidden in Arastea Grove. This tower had been the prison of the nymph princess Arastea, thousands of years ago, who was kept hidden here by her evil mother. They say her singing pleased the animals, especially unicorns and griffins. That's why there were so many of them wandering around.

I chose the place because it gave me plenty of magical animals to hunt. I thought I would never be found, but I can hear tiny steps outside, whispering and planning my doom. And I can feel their magic too. Gnomes can be very resentful people, especially when you've captured their prince.

The skies are getting clearer. Soon the night will be over and I won't have the protection of darkness. I'm hearing my mother's voice, along with other ancestors I've never heard of. I'm not sure if I'm hearing ghosts or if I'm already asleep and just don't know. The only comfort I get is that it will soon be over.

When I look through the stone window and see the great magical forest, I remember the first time I moved. I felt great, powerful, invincible. It was probably a consequence of my diet. I was eating unicorn meat every day and didn't even need the gnomes anymore. But I kept them as pets and even fed them with some unicorn pieces. That was my mistake.

In the first days at the tower, only a few humans would dare to travel through the forest. I used to kill them and, most often, burn their villages. I used to let some people escape to tell the story. Magical creatures always avoid humans, so it was necessary to keep humans afraid and distant. Burning villages was an easy task and made me and the forest famous.

I remember once when a nearby kingdom tried to expel me from my property. They came with a big army and second-rate wizards, the kind that only read a lot but can't do any real magic. How arrogant could they be? This nefarious king thought that he had the right to expel me! Out of my own property! He wanted to harass me, to corner me in my tower. I felt like giving this ridiculous king a lesson. So I turned him into a mouse, while at the same time turning all his soldiers into hungry cats. I imagine how afraid he was! I made him taste his own medicine! I laughed so hard that day that my laughing was heard thousands of miles away.

I'm a self-taught wizard. I never studied the wisdom of nature nor its need for balance. So I couldn't prepare myself for what came next.

It's getting harder to write. My hand keeps trembling. I hope that those who read this will understand.

When I released thousands of magical cats into the forest I ended up disturbing its natural balance. The cats drove off all the birds of the forest. It might not seem important, but their singing is very important to magical animals. Once the birds were gone, so were the unicorns and the other mystic animals.

After a few days without eating anything magical, I decided to get some blood from the gnomes. But I haven't done that for a long time. I was reckless and didn't tie them first. I was treating them like rats, so I just opened the cage and tried to grab one. But as I grabbed the first, the other just disappeared and then appeared in the window, out of the cage. The diet I gave them made them stronger. How foolish of me. Then the one I grabbed did the same. And they both ran away.

It's been a few months since I ate my last piece of a unicorn. I can't do no magic now. This wall can't protect me for much longer. What will these crooked little rats do to me?

I was mistaken. I have hours, not days. I saw them outside preparing a spell with a human finger. I think I know who that finger belongs to. When they 're finished, I'll become a gnome slave. I'm too tired to fight. I ...

(The rest of this page is blurred and unreadable. It seemed it was written in a different language)