"The Bastard's Invitation"
Ibaan's frown deepened. Three straight lines formed between his eyebrows as he stared at the name. It felt strange. He had no idea who could have sent it, but the word Bastard itself held many meanings in ancient tongues.
In his vampire language, it meant Joker—not a clown, but a wanderer who played with fate. In newer languages, it was often mixed up with a clown, though they were not the same. One traveled freely, the other performed for crowds, even if their looks were similar.
In another tongue—the Utopian, also called the Dragonic language—it meant a lone bird that ruled the world through instinct alone.
Stunned, he quickly shut the door and went back up to his bedroom.
He opened the envelope and found two strange items.
The first was a ring. A pearl-red crystal glowed at its center, set into an obsidian-black band. The crystal pulsed faintly, as if it were alive.
