by Night Ember » Thu Jun 19, 2014 7:51 am
I run through the leafy forest, the Hunters hard on my heels. It is in the dead of the night and my kind, the Fanged Ones or Vampyre, in Greek. They had crossbows, armed and loaded. My instincts were in a frantic haze, and the adrenaline rushed through my body like a flooded river, ever gushing, and never stopping. I was hunting in a pack for elk or any other animals, when the Hunters came. Then they picked us off, one by one, capturing or killing until I was the only one left. This is the second hunt my kind has been on with an interruption from Hunters, and no food. The Hunters had been encircling us, until our hunts were shorter and weaker, and food has become scarcer and scarcer, because of the Hunters, this place was our prison, not our home anymore. Generations had lived here, with no disruptions, but somehow the feeble humans had created a large force of armored and dangerous Hunters, and now we run for our lives. If we get captured, word of our home will be discovered, and we will either be captured or killed. Neither one sounds pleasant.
I am running to the willow tree which shrouds our hidden coven. The tricky part? Trying not to show the Hunters where the Coven is. I run, trampling and knocking things behind me to slow their path and block their way. This tactic has provided some results, but for the most part, it has been effortless and useless. We are running out of ideas to conceal ourselves. We cannot create a war force ourselves and fight back either. Our population has dwindled, thanks to the oncoming attacks from the Hunters. We need to move somewhere else, or die in our homes. It won't be long until the Hunters get there anyway. Our weapons consist of swords, claws, and teeth. We have some magic, but most of it shields us to become invisible or protects us from the sun. It is mostly illusion magic, meant to conceal or trick the unwary. The only magic we have that damages creatures is a stun spell, used to trap prey and if constantly used, it will kill or put the target into a coma. It mildly hurts the target, just enough to stun, but it won't work on the Hunters armor, somehow they made the armor to where it blocks spells...
I ran along the stony cliffs and showered large boulders in their way, which somehow proved to be very effective. I heard them mutter to themselves, and yell a few things, split up, and look for alternative paths. I ran straight to the willow tree before they could relocate me.
I forgot to introduce myself, I am Ember, a 300 year-old Vampyre, and a hunter. My brothers are soldiers and my father is the Coven leader. My mother died, she was a hunter when Vampyre Hunters killed her. My sister is only 25, so she just started hunting. I heard rumors that the Hunters like killing young fledgling Vampyres for sport or game. The thought of it sends chills up my bones. I would give anything to protect my only sister. My brothers are my half-brothers, except for Stone, which is my true-blood brother, and my sister is my actual, blood-sister. In the coven, it is supposed to mean a lot when you are true-blood related. Half-siblings can mate (odd, I know), but true blood-siblings cannot. My father is reaching his 1978th born-date soon. He may be old, but he is stronger than any Vampyre in the Coven. This is how leadership works, if you want to be the new leader, you have to challenge and kill the other leader using swords or claws (it depends on the agreement between the two Vampyres). After you've done that, you need a mate, it is a rule, no Coven leader is single. Then you must create one male heir, just in case you die. I have at least 20 half-brothers and 1 true-blood brother, all soldiers, and 1 true-blood sister. I am a lonely person, I have only had 1 mate, who died right after we had a Bonding Ritual together, I still remember him when I see the scar on my wrist A Bonding Ritual is like Marriage, only you cut your wrists an mix the bloods, and the Coven leader announces you and your mate together. You and your mate will be together, forever, until one of you dies, in which you can have another Bonding Ritual. After you mix bloods in the Bonding Ritual, a scar appears on your wrist forever, and a spiritual mark appears on your right arm, showing how many rituals you've had. The mark is a 1 inch line, on your upper arm up and down line in a deep black.
I came up to the Coven's willow tree to find the entrance slightly cracked open, with a pair of glistening red eyes glaring back at me coldly. I stated my name and the password to the Vampyre guarding the door. The password was "The Predator and Hunter", but now it is "The Prey and Hunted". My father changed the password to suit our abilities. He thought that we no longer ruled the woods around the villages. I walked into the coven to find father in deep conversation with the Coven elders, the commanders (of what little soldiers we have left), and my 876-year-old brother, the heir. My father looked at me and said "No blood? I expected better of you, Ember. My people haven't eaten in days, and soon they will get weaker, until sickness kills them." I hung my head in shame and said "There's no food, father. The Hunters ambushed my pack and killed all of the prey. We cannot afford to live here any longer. Yes, I know that the tribe is getting weaker, but there is no way to cure their hunger, especially with no prey. We will have to draw from the stocks if we want food. Rationing and moving is the only way to survive." "We cannot move! Our ancestors lived here before us and so did their ancestors and theirs before them. It would be unholy to move!" He retorted. "Our stocks are lower than you think, Ember, we have been drawing from them since the first killings for the sick and starving. But now those numbers are limited, and we have to pick and choose who to give food and who to die!" For Vampyres, they were immune to disease and poisons, unless they weren't mature or crumbing away from their age. If they were starving, though, their immune systems got weaker, and instead of dying of hunger, they died of a common cold, or poisons. My father stood up and said "From now on, at least two soldiers will accompany any hunting party, and we will hunt near and in the Deepwoods, as far as away from the villages as possible. Night patrols and Night Hunting Packs will be established, and every Vampyre will carry a sharp-ended sword, and will be forced to fight, instead of run, even Fledglings or Newborns." This meant that there would be more Vampyres busting around to get fresh blood from scarce areas. The animals were not plentiful anymore in the Deepwoods. Our 'great and holy' ancestors killed all of the prey in the Deepwoods. That is why we always hunt near human civilizations. Even if prey is scarce, human blood will always be available.
I grabbed my sword, Ripjaw( A black, obsidian-onyx mix blade, a lizard-skin hilt with a black diamond gemstone at the hilt. It is a one-handed sword made for slicing mostly, but can stab sharply. It has the words Rilovas-Havaskai carved into the side of the blade, meaning Ripping Jaw, or Ripjaw.) and joined a hunting pack consisting of 4 mature, able-bodied hunters and 3 mature soldiers. One of the soldiers was my brother, his name was Stone and he is the youngest male Vampyre in my family (age:270). My father had picked him because this was his initiation to be apart of the Elite Guard. If he failed, he didn't come back. I was the leader of this pack, so I lead the way into the night-black woods.
As we entered the Deepwoods, every sound or stir in the night stopped. We cast tracking spells, and after some time, we found out that a male elk had travelled through the area in the past hour. I nodded to the pack and we spread out in a fan-like formation to block off all escapes. When we came upon the elk, it was grazing peacefully, but there was something on his leg. It was some sort of leg-chain that had a blinking light. One of the pack members took a step forward, but I raised my hand to stop him. It was a trap of some sort, set up by the Hunters. I had been pondering the thought of why there had been no sight or scent of the Hunters. Now it made sense. They were trying to lure us in with the prey. If we killed that elk, an alarm would send signals to its base and a troop of Hunters would come after us and we'd be dead by dawn. I shook my head, not safe. I made a hissing sound and scared the elk away. It was plump, too. I suppose the elk was born in captivity and released to the wild when it got fat to lure us in with the thought of plump prey. I cast another scent-trail spell, and faintly scented a lone rabbit, injured, trailing through here. I pointed west, the way the rabbit had gone, and we were in a tightly-packed group, perfect for rabbit chasing. We were lead to an open plain of grass, with a rabbit, dead in the center. It was normal for an injured rabbit to die, and normally, the blood was fine to drink. Instead, there was blood marking the grass, in a ring around the rabbit. It looked as if someone was marking territory. The blood was fresh enough, but the marking of the grass was too complex for an ordinary animal to make, it was another trap.
One of the pack members, my brother sadly, could see that it was a trap, but he ran out there to drink the open blood. Immediately, when Stone ran up to the rabbit, a bear trap clamped on his leg, and he screeched louder than a dying hawk. There must have been some poison on the trap, because Stone's foot was melting and sealing to the trap. Steam was everywhere too, he still continued to scream, giving away our position and giving the Hunters what they wanted. We drew out our swords, and started to get in a defensive position around the circle. Stone screamed ''Help me, Ember, help me! You are my sister, I have a family, and I don't want to die!" We couldn't last any longer with his screaming rampages waking up the whole forest. I scanned the ground in front of me, stepped in the circle, careful not to step in any traps, went up to the Vampyre and said "I'm sorry, brother, but this is for the greater good. Our family will have to do without you." He shouted "'Nooooooooooo!" as I beheaded him. My black blade was dripping with inky Vampyre blood. It hurt to see the blood on my blade, even though I had killed plenty of Vampyres and humans alike. It was because this was the first time I killed a part of my family that hurt. As soon as I stepped out side the circle, a swarm of Hunters ran up to me, swords in their hands. I slashed one of them in the calf, disabling his left leg. I delivered a killing blow to his head as soon as he collapsed. I stabbed another Hunter in the side, injuring him badly. I rushed to help a Vampyre killing the last Hunter, the Hunter with a helmet and full set of armor meant to protect from Vampyres. I smashed the hilt of my sword into the side of his helmet, which felt like a thin piece of sheet metal when hit by the strong hilt of Ripjaw. He fell over to the ground, passed out. I removed the helmet and took al of the blood he had and put them in vials. When I was done, I saw that the rest of the pack had done the same. We put it into our leather packs and took their armor. We burned the bodies, never to be found as we buried the ashes 7 feet under.
When wee arrived at the Coven, we showed the blood to the Coven leader and he said "Well done! Put them into the stocks to be rationed. We are still running low. Any casualties?" I looked at the pack and back at the Coven leader and said "We all had minor injuries, one major, and one death. The dead body is in the cathedral, on an altar, waiting to be buried." He asked "Who passed away?" I answered "Stone."
"His cause of death?"
"Decapitation(or beheading)"
"Who? The Hunters or was it a murder?"
"I did, sir. I killed Stone. I did it for the greater good, his leg was caught in a trap, and if I didn't kill him, we would all be dead. I had to do it, sir."
"I see. Go to your quarters until the burial. Your rations will come at dawn and do not leave your quarters until I say so, Ember. The rest may either join another hunting patrol or guard patrol. You may be dismissed."
I was in my quarters when a Vampyre entered with a golden chalice (or goblet). It was filled with blood to the brim. The Vampyre set it down on a table and left the room quickly. My father entered the room a few hours later. He said "Now let me get this straight, you killed Stone when he wasn't going to die. By that definition, you killed him in cold blood." I replied "He was going to die, father. He gave away our position. I did it for the greater good. For the Coven! If I didn't kill him, then we would've all died. Reinforcements would've come, and we would all be dead, or worse, captured. If I didn't kill him, the whole coven would be dead. Stone's death was inevitable. You must believe me, father. I did not kill him mercilessly. After all, he was the one who walked in the trap." My father shook his head, and said "you can come to the burial, but terrible things will happen afterwards. I have no choice to punish you for the death of a brother. You of all people must know that." I did not like those words, Terrible things. What would those things be? Exile? Lashings? Torture? Many thoughts flew in my head as I walked down to the cathedral.
I arrived to see that it had not started yet, and my siblings glared upon me. My sister stood there, crying, and my brothers circled her defensively, like I would kill one of them the minute I got the chance. I glanced around innocently. My father placed Stone's body on the altar in the center. Then he said "Kcylunum Monice Entenium" which meant "Spirits accept him" And the body went afire the minute he said that. He said "Stone is in The Shadowlands now, my brethren. Now we have a court to attend." A few Vampyre soldiers escorted me to the courthouse. In the dank, dark, courthouse building, there is a podium and a few pews for the court to sit on. The court is full of family members and the Coven leader. Everything was full when I entered.
Last edited by
Night Ember on Fri Jul 11, 2014 3:42 am, edited 4 times in total.
