Chapter 1 Part 6

We all hit our positions. I had the forested area just outside of the campsite. I liked fighting amongst the trees. It gave me a feeling of freedom that I had not had in quite a long time to know that I could move about the trees in the manner of my bestial nature. This is something most elven people do not get to exalt in, their bestial nature, and due to the fact that for centuries we have dedicated ourselves to more 'intellectual' pursuits. Don't get me wrong... Put a blade or a bow in the hands of an elf going to battle and you have created a hell of a fighting force. Imagine tens of thousands of us, as there were during the race wars and you have a force that even caused the dwarves to tremble in their mountain keeps.

Anyway... (I can get off on a tangent, can't I?)

Nightfall. It was a vampire's favorite time of the day. It was the time that our abilities were not blocked in any way, shape or form. There was something about the sun that blocked a vampire's innate ability to manipulate certain energies, including the 'blood of the Goddess', which I summoned even now. Thick and moist, the mist not only rolled off my body, but up out of the ground as well. There was a dual purpose to the mist. It served as a way for me to 'sense' the approach of another, as well as obscure their vision. Yes. It allowed me to 'sense' another's approach. The mist that was shed from my own body carried with it a sort of attachment, much like how a spider can feel the slightest stimulation to her web a vampire can feel when someone is passing through their mist.

I waited, knowing that Vhal-drador’s troops were on the way. Two specifically were heading in my direction. I could feel them passing through the outskirts of my mist so I took a vantage point that some would call unfair, but I learned years ago, that any advantage was all that was needed for one such as I to live through the next day. They strode with a mix of confidence, confusion and courage. The triple 'C' always led to trouble. I could sense that they were wary even though they strode in like champion fighters. Something was definitely off kilter about them and I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

*Tasha, let the others know that it begins now,* I sent.

*Beloved, they already know. Questar and Kassy have met the enemy. Wolfling and Johanish are awaiting the arrival of theirs even as we speak. Gotorah is in the middle of heated battle. Yet the only presence not felt from or seen as of yet, are Vhal-drador and his lieutenants.* She casually informed me, as if this were just another day between us.

Just as casually I sent back, *Oh good... Then I am not the only one that is about to have company,* and went back to my vigil. I watched as the two youths picked their way carefully through the trees towards me, each brandishing a sword and a dagger. Their minds filled with absolute hatred for each member of the Adventurer's Guild. I did not understand, at that moment, what could cause such absolute hatred, but Tasha did.

*Vhal-drador has inspired this, my love. He works through manipulation, much as your fellow creations do. They erase and manipulate the mind of a person so thoroughly that only what they want remains. Did you not ever wonder how come your mental skills are so strong, even for one of your training? It is your own natural talents combined with the bestial nature of the Unholy’s blood. They have manifested themselves in you ten-fold*

I set this thought aside as the hatred drew closer. So many things flashed through my mind at that time that it took me more than a couple of moments to think things through. I had set a plan of action though, just in case I got lost in some reverie like I had before. There was a downside to being a vampire. Memory. It had the strongest of all pulls on someone who lived between the realms of the living and the realms of the dead. Those of us that have lived for more than a couple of hundred years have trained ourselves to work automatically through certain events. Being a warrior from the start, I have trained my automatic responses to be either weapon responses or spells that can be used for battle purposes.

I muttered a few words and watched as magickal energies stirred underneath the tree I had taken refuge in. Having a thick layer of mist on the ground and a nice patch of natural fog around my area gave me all the cover I could ever hope to need. The rest was for me to do. No amount of preparation could ever make a person truly ready for battle... The only thing for that is the actual battle itself. Oh. Don't get me wrong, you can practice and prepare all you want, and pray that all your mistakes are cleaned away during battle, but... There was always that one thing you couldn't foresee, no matter how gifted you were. That one factor that made battles turn quickly from a skirmish to all out war. Even mathematics had a name for it. A chaos factor. That point in which fiction and reality collided. Juxtaposition.

The spell was a simple glamour that would cause my voice to sound between the two young, somewhat identical, would-be combatants. I took note of their beautiful faces, red hair and jade green eyes and knew that they were brothers perhaps a year apart. If it weren’t for the fact that these boys were obviously out to kill me, they would be something I would 'toy with' as Tasha was likely to say about my dalliances.

The first young man triggered the glamour and spun with a ferocity that rivaled Wolfling's blind rage and struck his brother square in the belly. There was no remorse. Not a tear. Not a hint of sorrow. Nothing. This hit me in such a way that my bestial nature took control before I could even think a coherent thought. I dropped soundlessly from my perch in the tree behind the boy standing before me, rage seeping from my every fiber.

"Kinslayer! Your life is now mine to claim," slipped out between low guttural growls. I latched onto him with talons that had sprung from my fingers in response to my anger and sank my fangs into his throat. I drained just enough of his life’s blood to drop him to the ground and allow him to slip slowly into death near his brother. Too late did I notice the circlet dancing lightly on his brow. Damn. Slave bands.

*Tasha... Warn the others not to kill the enemy. They are wearing slave bands. I knew this didn't feel right. Vhal-drador is an uncanny creature.*

I could sense the affirmations from the others acknowledging the quick passing of the new information. I could also sense the shift in their stances from lethal to non-lethal actions.

I ripped open my wrist and bade the boy to drink. It took the third time with a bit of a mental push for him to actually begin to drink. The ichor that was my blood filled his mouth and with all the strength of one whom wishes to exist the boy latched on and drank deeply.

I thought, as ever I do when I create another like me. My thoughts ranged from this are what I must do to make up for my short sightedness, to how can I possibly justify unleashing another monster on the face of Shalisterra. It all boiled down to "Will I have added essence and meaning to the life of a man, or will I have added another scourge to ALL mankind?"

Written By: Belfazaar Ashantison

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