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HyperactiveMothMan — Change
Published: 2006-10-10 05:23:18 +0000 UTC; Views: 990; Favourites: 0; Downloads: 1
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Rayman is property of UbisoftChange
Prologue
Neshae’s eyes opened. Something was wrong. He could feel it. He sat up in his bed and looked out the window.
The sun was just beginning to ruse over the rooftops. The sky was red like blood and the air was hot and humid, almost unbearably. Sweat exited every pore on his body, greasing his dark hair and soaking his shirt and sheets.
There was a knock on the door. “Come in.” Neshae said.
The door opened and Rayman, Neshae’s twin brother, entered the room. They were not identical twins. Where Neshae’s hair was hark and generally hung down, Rayman’s was blonde and stuck up and out in two different parts. His eyes were blue, where Neshae’s were green like leaves on the trees outside. And Rayman’s shirt was purple with a white ring in the middle, while Neshae’s was black with a red bull’s eye.
“Can you feel it too?” Rayman asked.
Neshae nodded. Normally, they didn’t get along. But when they needed to, they could stick together and overcome any obstacle. This might have been one of those times. “What do you think it is?”
“Don’t know.” Rayman said. He sat next to Neshae on the bed and looked out the window. “Something bad, though.”
Neshae agreed as he followed his brother’s gaze out the window. The sun was a little higher by now, but not by a lot. And the sky was only redder than before. The little but of the sun that they could see seemed to be made of flaming blood.
There was a crash sound and a vibration. Rayman and Neshae looked at each other for a moment, then back out the window. There was silence for the longest time. The air was thick with the heat and intensity. Then there were the screams.
Blasts of power lit up the red morning sky. Through the window, the twins saw their father run out of the house towards the trouble. In his hand was his fire sword that few people could use.
Their mother ran out with him. Her short temper made the wind swirl around her. “Remember your promise!” she called. “We have a family now! How are you going to raise your boys if you get yourself killed?”
Their dad stopped and turned around. He looked very much like Rayman, but his hair was brown. He returned to his wife and held her close. “I’ll be alright.” He said. “But how are they going to grow up if their planet’s destroyed.” He kissed her and then ran off to save his world.
It wasn’t long before he was forced back to the house. He was cut in several places, like he had been fighting an opponent that was too strong. There was a look of desperation in his eyes as he approached their mother.
“We’ve gotta go!” he said. “Get to the escape pod!” There was a look of disbelief in his eyes as their mother called them through the window. “I knew this day would come. I just didn’t want to believe it.”
Before Neshae knew it, the four of them were running into the mountains. In the sky, more escape pods could be seen taking off, as if their dad’s friends had taken his advice years ago.
There was a sound of footsteps behind them. Neshae and Rayman turned around and saw a dark, cloaked figure behind them with a small army of creatures behind him. On the figure’s head was a hat that stuck out in all directions. The twins knew that this was the evil villain from their parents’ stories. This was Mister Dark.
“After them!” Dark ordered his minions. “None of them must make it out alive!”
Their dad stopped and summoned the fire blade out of the handle of his sword. He was going to stay behind and fight and buy them more time to escape.
Rayman saw this and stopped too, causing Neshae and his mother to stop. He would not leave his father.
“Rayman, go to the escape pod.” Their dad said.
“I won’t leave you, Dad. I’m gonna fight with you.”
There was a look of desperation in their father’s eyes as he took off his red bandana.
“This bandana means a lot to me. Your mother gave this to me to protect me on my first adventure. I need you to keep an eye on it for me. Can you do that?”
Rayman reluctantly managed to nod and Neshae and their mother pulled him away to the escape pod while their dad fought the demons.
When they got in the escape pod, their mother turned on the controls and they took off.
There was a bump, like something had hit them.
“Damn!” their mom said. She managed to keep control of the pod. A planet appeared in the distance. “Looks like we’re landing on that planet over there.” She began to call the planet for help on the radio. A few more shots were fired, but they all flew past. They had almost made it when the pod was hit a second time.
Their mother could not keep control this time. They began to fall to the ground on this strange planet.
Something hit Neshae’s head and everything went black.
Chapter 1
Neshae’s eyes opened. His head pounded. The pod had crashed and the three of them were flung out of it. Rayman and his mother lay unconscious on the ground next to him.
To the right was a huge mountain. All around them and the mountain were trees. They had landed in a forest. The sun set behind storm clouds that were approaching rapidly in the wind.
There was a small noise coming from Rayman’s direction. Neshae looked over there, hoping his brother had woken up. Instead, he saw a woman kneeling over him.
Her hair was black as the darkest night and came down to the ground as she knelt. Her skin was pale, like she hadn’t been in the sun in a long time. Her eyes seemed to be the color of blood. Her clothing seemed to be made of patches of black, red, and violet colored cloth. Black boots were on her feet and were laced up the sides all the way to her knees. But what got his attention just in time were her fangs. Two fangs hung lower than the rest of her teeth. She was a vampire and she was attacking Rayman.
Neshae picked up a rock and threw it at her. He missed, but it distracted her from Rayman. She looked in his direction and a fear gripped him. It was almost as if he would die this night.
He got to his feet and ran into the trees. The girl followed him. She was gaining on him, but he had to lure her away from his family.
He looked back to see how close she was. She was gone. He slowed and turned his head back around and skidded to a stop. She was right in front of him.
How did she get there so fast? He wondered. He had always known that vampires were fast, but he never dreamed that they were that fast.
His eyes were drawn to the vampire’s. She seemed to hold him there in a trance. He couldn’t move. She bit him and as if under a spell, he fell asleep.
Chapter 2
Neshae woke up. His vision was fuzzy and everything was dark as night. He lay on what felt like stone. There was a pain by where his neck would have been if he had one. The taste of blood filled his mouth. He groaned and rolled over on his side.
“You’re awake.” Said a female voice. Neshae sat up and turned his head in her direction. He could hear the sound of rain coming down somewhere.
When his vision cleared, he could see her by a cave entrance. They were in a cave. Rain poured outside. And the woman was the one who had bitten him.
Neshae stood up, ready to fight her if he had to. Dizziness swarmed over him and he fell back down.
“Don’t try to get up so fast. You’ve lost blood.” She said. “You’ll need to feed soon. Right after this rain.”
The words stung Neshae like knives. She had turned him into a vampire. A blood sucker that walked by night. He would never be able to eat food again. He would never spend all day at the beach with his family again, even if they did survive. He wouldn’t be able to do anything he used to do. It was like he was dead.
Hatred toward this woman burned inside him. All hope seemed to be lost. But there was one thing he could do. He could take his revenge on her for taking his life away.
He didn’t even sound like himself anymore. She really did kill him. She killed Neshae. And whoever he was now would return the favor.
“Do you have a name?” the woman asked.
He glared at her. “I don’t have one yet.”
She smiled as if dealing with a child in its fame. “Well why not?”
“Because you killed that me.”
The smile faded. “Don’t overreact so much. You’ll get over it once you’ve had something to drink. I turned you and I’m going to teach you how to survive. I’ve got plans for you later.”
“I’ll never help you with anything.” He said.
“You will. I could have just sucked you dry and left your body for anything else that comes along. But I sensed something in you.”
He looked away. He would allow her to teach him whatever he needed to learn. He would carefully observe her and find her weakness. And when he was strong enough he would take his revenge.
“So what should I call you?”
He was woken from his thoughts. “Huh?”
“I’m not calling you ‘Hey you’ the whole time. What do you want me to call you?”
“I’ll tell you when I’m ready.” He said.
“Well, I’m Jomeiah.” She told him.
He thought about a new name for himself. His mind wandered back to his days in school. He’d had to take a class on a dead language that was sometimes still used when chanting magic spells. It was called Latin.
He tried to remember any of the words that had been forced into his brain. Unfortunately, cursed was never a word he learned so he couldn’t use it. But there was a word that meant “to turn, change.” Vertere or something like that. He couldn’t remember how the endings were supposed to go, but all the Latin names seemed to end with “us.”
He had found his new name. He had unwillingly been changed into something else. Neshae was dead and Verterus was born.
“My name is Verterus.” He said.
Whether she heard him or not, he didn’t care. They sat in silence as the rain continued to fall in the sky and the darkness in his soul grew.
There was a pain in a place he didn’t recognize. He looked behind him and saw two black bat wings sticking out of his back. He had been laying on one of them and hadn’t even noticed. He shifted his position so the wing could come free.
“That doesn’t happen to most vampires.” Jomeiah said. Verterus didn’t react. “We can change from human form to bat form, but you’re different. You keep your wings all the time.”
He still didn’t pay any attention. Just the mere thought of the woman sent his heart racing in a fury Neshae had never known.
“The storm is ending. Morning will be here soon. We’d better hurry.” Jomeiah said.
“What fool would be out in this weather?” Neshae asked.
“You’d be surprised. And you’d better hope we find someone tonight or you will be even weaker tomorrow.”
He still didn’t move. He heard her move towards him and she put a hand in front of his face. It had a chocolate candy bar in it. It was one of the ones he’d hidden in the escape pod when he was still Neshae. Another reminder of his stolen life. He fought back the tears that he felt coming.
“This will help.” Jomeiah offered it to him. “Eat it.”
He looked at her. He looked into her eyes for the first time since she had bitten him. “I thought we drink blood?”
“Well how many of us would still be around if we couldn’t enjoy ourselves with food and other drink every now and then. I know I would have killed myself.”
Verterus took the candy bar and ate it. The familiar taste seemed to calm his nerves a little.
“Now come on.” Jomeiah said. “We have to drink sometime.”
Almost against his own will, Verterus stood up. He knelt and pretended to be tying his shoe, making sure his wing blocked Jomeiah’s view. The wrapper of that candy bar was the only thing he had left of his former life. He wasn’t going to toss it away like trash. He slipped it inside the shoe he pretended to be tying.
When he stood up, Jomeiah hadn’t even been paying attention. The rain had stopped and she was looking outside.
Verterus looked out with her. Despite the dark of night, he could see clearly. They were in a small cave at the base of the mountain. The escape pod stood still where it had crashed. Rayman and their mom were gone. Probably out looking for him. There was a pain in his heart as he longed to go back to that life.
“You didn’t bite them after you bit me, did you?” Verterus asked Jomeiah.
“No.” she answered as she left the cave and walked out into the night. “I thought that was pretty brave of you to sacrifice yourself for them like you did. I wouldn’t allow that to be in vain.”
They walked through the woods for a few minutes before they found their first victims. Three men sat around a camp fire. Three tents surrounded them. They were humans. Guns were propped up against the tents as if the men were hunting. A killed animal roasted over the fire as they waited for it to cook.
Verterus and Jomeiah hid behind one of the tents.
“Okay. I’ll get their attention. When I give the signal, jump out for the ambush.” Jomeiah whispered.
“Why can’t we just scare them off and steal their food?” Verterus asked. He liked the idea of scaring the humans.
“I know why you don’t want to do this.” Jomeiah said. “I went through the same thing. Every vampire that was changed against their will does. Humans spread rumors about us saying that we’re evil blood suckers and the instant we take an innocent life we are damned to Hell.
“Tell me this. When the fox captures a rabbit to keep itself from starving to death, is it damned to Hell? That rabbit was more innocent than any human I’ve ever seen. Every time a cat eats a mouse, every time a human eats a cow or a chicken or a pig, are they? It is in nature for all creatures to kill something else to survive. Vampires kill to survive just like anything else. Understand?”
Verterus nodded.
“Okay. When I say ‘come out’ you attack. Got it?”
He nodded again.
“Good. Wait here.”
She came out from hiding behind the tent and the men saw her. They had to be drunk because they looked like they were wondering if she was real or if they were imagining her. She walked a certain way, had a facial expression, everything she could do to attract them as much as possible. Verterus almost forgot how much he hated her. Almost.
“Hi, boys.” She said in an enchanting voice. “I’m feeling so lonely tonight. I saw you sitting here by yourselves and thought it might be worth my time to see how much I can make from you.”
Verterus couldn’t help but smile. She was pretending to be a whore to get them off their guard.
She sat down in the lap of the nearest human. “And the best part is, I’m not completely alone out here. Come out!”
That was his cue. All the men looked in his direction, expecting another beautiful woman to come out of the shadows. Verterus jumped out, catching them by surprise.
The man who held Jomeiah in his lap looked at her. Her fangs came out and she bit him, instantly putting him under that sleeping spell.
The other two men jumped up and ran for their guns. Verterus pounced at one. His fangs came out as he bit the human and couldn’t resist the urge to suck out the blood. It just tasted so unreal.
The only problem was he hadn’t used the sleeping spell during the bite. The human thrashed around screaming his head off.
“Hold him still, Billy!” the last man cried. “I’ll shoot him off.”
Jomeiah stopped sucking on her man and approached the last one. There was a look of terror in his eyes when she merely shoved away his gun and grabbed his neck. She tossed him away as if he weighed less than a kitten and he ran off screaming.
“Al!” The man with Verterus on him shouted. “Come back!”
Jomeiah held Billy still with those hypnotizing eyes that had held Neshae still.
You must learn to put your victims to sleep. Verterus could hear her voice in his head. Otherwise they can get away.
How can I do that? Verterus asked.
You can get into his head and force him to relax. Just do it enough so that he falls asleep and do it fast.
Verterus could feel the man trembling in pain and fear. When his mind entered the man’s, he could feel that fear. But he did not let that distract him. He sent a calming emotion into the man’s mind. The trembling stopped. He intensified his emotion until he fell to the ground asleep.
“Well done.” Jomeiah congratulated him. “Now we feast.”
Chapter 3
The sun began to come up as the two finished their humans. They made their way back to the dark cave and slept. Despite the fact that Verterus had only woken up a couple of hours ago, he was exhausted.
“Wake up.” Jomeiah’s voice woke him. I was dark once again in the cave. Night had come. “Tonight I shall teach you flight.”
Verterus rubbed his eyes and stood up. They left the cave once again and for the last time. He watched Jomeiah transform into a giant bat and fly into the night sky, her pale skin looking almost silver in the moonlight.
“Flap your wings and join me up here.” She called down to him.
Verterus flapped his wings and jumped into the air. His feet left the ground and he shot upward above the trees.
“Now hover like I am. This is a more difficult task.”
It was a while before Verterus got the hovering thing right. And it was difficult. He had to flap his wings at just the right angle quickly.
“Good.” Jomeiah said. “We must go now.”
“Why such a hurry?” Verterus asked.
“I bit you for a reason. I sensed it in your brother too, that’s why I tried to bite him. But I need your help. So you must come with me.”
The last thing he wanted to do was help her. And she knew it. That’s why she was leading him along and teaching him everything he needed to know. He was forced into coming with her now. He hated her even more.
She took off and Verterus followed her. They flew over the trees until they saw a camp fire. Verterus’s first thought was more humans they would hunt. But they landed in plain sight next to the fire.
Three people were sitting on a log next to the fire. Their fangs were out so Verterus knew they were vampires too.
“Hey, Jomeiah.” Said the one in the middle, a male with red hair. “Who’s this guy?”
“This is Verterus.” Jomeiah said. “I bit him last night.” She gestured to the vampire on the left. She had red hair like the male’s, but it was long and curly. “This is Roegh.” She guestured to the guy in the middle. “This is Yaashi.” And the last vampire was Gina. She had blonde hair that was tied in three braids that were braided together. The braid was wrapped around her head like a crown.
“Does he know anything yet or do we have to wait while you tell him?” Yaashi asked.
“I haven’t had time to tell him. I’ve barely been able to help him get his first meal and teach him flight.” Jomeiah said.
Yaashi sighed. “Then let’s make this quick. You’ve heard of the vampire hunter, Moajei, right?”
Verterus shook his head.
“When I bit Jomeiah, I bit her sister too. Tought them everything they needed to know, but Moajei comes along and tries to kill them. I tried to save them, but he killed the sister. So now we’ve gotten together a little coven and we’re gonna get revenge.”
Verterus looked angrily at Jomeiah. “This is why you bit me? You took my life just to get back at someone?”
“Think what you like. You’re still going to help me.” Jomeiah said.
“No.” Verterus’s expression darkened. “You take away everything I had and you expect me to help you? I’ll never help you.” He turned around and went off into the woods alone. He would figure this stuff out on his own. He would come back for her when he was strong enough, provided she didn’t get herself killed trying to fight a vampire hunter.
He was lost in his own thoughts when he bumped into the back of someone.
“Out of my way.” He said irritably while the man turned around.
“A limbless vampire.” The man said when he saw Verterus. He formed a fire ball in his hand. “Quite bold of you.”
Verterus remembered the stories he’d heard about vampires. Witches and vampires were sworn enemies. And a sorcerer was just a male witch.
Verterus felt his fangs come out. He turned and ran. He didn’t even know how to fight yet. A sinking feeling came over him, like he was disappointed in himself for running like a coward. It was crazy, but he stopped and turned around. The sorcerer was not there, but he could hear his footsteps coming through the trees.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Jomeiah’s voice said behind him.
“Shh. There’s a sorcerer coming. We’ll have to fight him.”
“Oh really.” Jomeiah grabbed his hands and held him still. He struggled to get away, but she was stronger than him. “You wouldn’t help me fight an enemy. Why should I help you? In fact, after all I’ve done for you, an ungrateful little brat like you deserves to be punished.” She called into the trees. “I’ve got him right here for you. Come and get him.”
The sorcerer came through the trees, a wooden stake in his hand. Jomeiah held him even harder as he struggled. All it would take was a stake in the heart and he would be dead.
Jomeiah whispered in his ear. “It’s not too late.” She said. “You can still appreciate my helping you learn now to survive and help me in return or you can not learn how to survive and die tonight. Thirteen seems to be a very young age to die, doesn’t it?”
“I never wanted you to teach me anything!” Verterus whispered. “I never wanted you to bite me!”
“You’ve got a bull’s eyes on your shirt and a guy about to throw darts at you. Is this the time to be stubborn?”
The sorcerer got closer. He was almost close enough to take that final blow. He was trapped with only one way out, even though it destroyed his ego.
“All right! I’ll help you!” he said angrily.
“Thank you.” Jomeiah let go of Verterus and attacked the sorcerer.
“You’re a vampire too!” he exclaimed and stabbed at her with the stake. She grabbed it in mid strike and flung the sorcerer over his shoulder. He rolled a little and stood back up. “We’ll meet again!” He said and ran off.
“Somehow, I doubt that. The man was willing to attack a child held down, but runs when that child is free. Does that make sense?” Jomeiah asked Verterus.
“Thanks for saving me.” Verterus said and went back to the campfire.
“What did we miss?” Yaashi asked as Jomeiah and Verterus returned.
“He changed his mind.” Jomeiah said. Verterus was grateful she didn’t tell the whole story. “Now back on track, we figure if we outnumber him we can beat him.”
“Do you even know where this guy is?” Verterus asked.
“Yes.” Roegh said. “He is staying in a village not far from here. Two nights away if we fly. It’s full of humans so we should have a feast when we get there.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Yaashi stood up.
The four vampires transformed and took off through the trees and into the night sky. Verterus flapped his wings and followed them. He did enjoy flying, after all.
Chapter 4
“Something’s down there!” Gina called above the wind in everyone’s ears. They had flown all night over a sea and once again found a forest.
“Then let’s find out.” Yaashi said and swooped downward. The others followed. Verterus felt an excitement that he had never felt and that Neshae hadn’t felt in years. He was actually having fun.
They swarmed over a few creatures that Verterus didn’t recognize. Some were tall and some were short. They had green skin and wore hats with hole in them so they could be pulled over the creatures’ faces and they could still see.
“I’ve never seen anything like them before.” Gina said as they hid behind the trees to stalk the creatures. “And what’s that they’re carrying?”
Verterus looked harder at the creatures and saw them put down what appeared to be a cage.
Suddenly, a figure emerged from the trees. He threw unattached fists at the creatures and they all disappeared as if they had been created by some kind of sorcerer. A second later he hit the cage and smashed it open, allowing little purple creatures to run out. Another instant he was gone.
“Verterus, wasn’t that?” Jomeiah started.
“Yeah.” Verterus leapt from his hiding place and raced into the trees where he had seen the figure go. He knew who that was. It was Rayman. His brother was alive.
But when he reached those trees, he could not find Rayman. His brother was gone again. He was so close to being reunited.
Morning came in that moment. They were under branches, safe from the sun. Jomeiah put a hand on Verterus’s shoulder.
“I know how you feel.” She said. “At least you know your brother’s alive. You have a chance to rejoin that life you once had. And maybe even go back to your old name.”
“I can never be Neshae again.” Verterus told her.
“I did the same thing once.” Jomeiah said. “I think every vampire that is turned does. They consider their old selves dead. But you are not dead. You are just in another form. Does the shape shifter change his name every time he changes form?”
“When he changes to a dog, his name changes to ‘ruff’.”
“True. But he still has the same name, just in another language. Does ‘Neshae’ mean ‘to turn or change’ in another language?” Before he could reply she added, “Get some sleep. We have more flying to do in the evening.”
Chapter 5
Verterus felt weaker when evening came that day. He didn’t think he could fly the entire distance without feeding first.
“Here.” Jomeiah said behind him. He turned around as she dropped an unconscious human next to him. “You’ll need this.”
“Why are you doing this?” Verterus asked.
“Good question.” Yaashi said. “She never brings me any free food.”
Ignoring Yaashi, Jomeiah said, “You’ll need to get stronger if you’re going to fight Moajei.”
Verterus didn’t want anything from her, but he was hungry so he drained the human.
“Let’s get ready to leave.” Jomeiah told the others. “We spent too much time talking last night. We’ll have to make up for that tonight.”
When Verterus was done he was the first to take off into the sky. The others took off after him and Jomeiah was the only one able to keep up with him.
“Are my eyes deceiving me? Are you actually beginning to enjoy being a vampire?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” He answered, letting his fangs out. “Let’s find out.”
He swooped down on her, but with a mere shift of her wings she flew out of his attack range.
“If you’re going to fight me, you should let me teach you how first.” Jomeiah said.
“Shoot.” Verterus challenged.
With lightning speed, Jomeiah shot up at him, catching him by surprise. He had not expected her to go quite that fast. She slammed into him pretending to bite and scratch him, but not breaking the skin.
Instinctively, he fought back, accidentally punching her in the side. She drew back for an instant.
“Well, I’m impressed you even have a fighting spirit.” She said. “Though you should have taken another blow while I was retreating. You would have weakened me more.”
“In a fair fight, you don’t do things like that. You don’t kick someone while they’re down.” Verterus said.
“Fighting’s fighting, Neshae. There is no fair. If you are fighting for your life and you don’t give it all you got you die.”
“Don’t call me that.” He said. “That’s not who I am anymore.”
“And Verterus matches you so much more?” Jomeiah came at him.
Verterus saw this coming and swerved to the side, just barely flying out of her range, but not enough to escape her claws. Like before, they didn’t cut him.
“Nice.” She said. “You’re improving.”
She came at him again. He swerved farther to the side, this time missing her claws. And when she flew past he flew into her, head butting her in the back.
She flung a hand at him, trying to scratch him again. He leaned back and the claws few by him. The other hand came at him and he caught it in mid strike. She stared at him and he stared at her. There was a sudden attraction he had to her. And he knew she felt it. And although she was way older than him, she would never age. He would age until he was fully grown, and then he would be old enough for her.
“You’ve gotten stronger.” She said. “That blow would have killed you last night.”
“You like what you see?” he asked.
“Yesterday you hated me and today you’re flirting with me. You have some growing up to do before we can do anything together. You’re only thirteen, don’t forget.”
As a sudden impulse, Verterus kissed her. Part of him loved it. But then the part of him that hated her kicked back in and the moment was over.
Something slammed into Verterus from the side. Before he knew what was happening, something scratched and punched at him.
“Yaashi, what are you doing?” Jomeiah asked.
That was all the distraction Verterus needed. He punched the side of Yaashi’s face, then kicked him in the stomach. Then he did a full turn to add more force to his next punch and planted a fist in Yaashi’s ribs.
“Stop!” Jomeiah shouted.
Verterus stopped and his wings gave a few backwards beats to avoid being attacked again. Yaashi didn’t attack him again, but instead turned to Jomeiah.
“I saw you two fighting and then he kissed you. I could only assume he was going to try to --” He said.
“I’m only thirteen, you ass hole!” Verterus interrupted him.
“I was teaching him how to fight and we flirted.” Jomeiah explained.
“Well stop flirting.” Yaashi said.
“Stop telling me what to do. I’ll flirt with whomever I please.” Jomeiah said.
“We’re loosing time!” Roegh called from a distance before Yaashi could react.
“Come on.” Jomeiah said and took off after the other girls.
Yaashi turned to Verterus. “Stay away from her, whelp.” Then he took off after the others, keeping himself between Jomeiah and Verterus.
Verterus swerved around him until he was on Jomeiah’s other side, then picked up his pace until he caught up with her. Yaashi could get over it. He wasn’t taking orders form anyone.
Verterus and Jomeiah spent the rest of the night racing and play fighting. They did anything they could think of in the air to make Verterus strong enough to help them battle Moajei. They reached the village by morning.
Before they entered the village, Jomeiah stopped Verterus.
“Fold your wings around your body so they look like a cape.” She said. “We don’t need them blowing out cover.”
Verterus did as he was told without comment for the first time since she had bitten him. And he found that keeping his wings this way was easier on them. They didn’t get caught on the tree branches when he walked.
The village just seemed to look completely alike. The buildings seemed mostly made of white rocks or red bricks.
They stopped at an inn. Inside was a lobby that was almost empty. A few humans were slumped over tables unconscious and with glasses in their hands. A human stood behind the bar at the back, preparing it to open for the day.
Gina paid for their room and the bar keeper gave them directions to a room with five beds and nothing else but a window.
“You’d think we’d have gotten a better room for all that money.” Gina said.
“He probably knows you stole that money.” Yaashi said.
“I did not steal that money!” Gina protested.
“Enough.” Jomeiah said. “We have to come up with a battle plan. But in order to do that we need to know where Moajei is. Yaashi, I’ll let you do the search.”
“Yes ma’am.” Yaashi said eagerly.
Jomeiah continued. “Not a lot to do until we know where he is. Let’s get some rest while we wait for Yaashi to get back.”
Yaashi climbed out the window. He looked into window after window, trying to find the room Moajei was staying in. Then he found it.
It was a room far better furnished than their’s. A bed, a dresser, a rug, and even a few lanterns took up very little of the space. Moajei sat at a desk in the corner, sharpening a knife.
Yaashi climbed into the window. “I’ve got a deal to strike with you.”
Startled, the vampire hunter turned around, holding his blade defensively. “What kind of deal are you talking about?”
“An entire coven of vampires are going to attack you at dusk. The deal is I warn you, you make sure you kill one vampire, and you spare me and one other.” Yaashi held out a sack of gold coins. He had stolen it from Gina when they were going to their room. “I can also make it worth your while.”
“Why would you betray your coven like that?” Moajei asked.
“I want to make sure something doesn’t happen.” Yaashi explained. “The vampire I want you to save is the most beautiful, with long, black hair. The one I want dead is easy to spot. He’s got no limbs.”
“No limbs?” Moajei asked suspiciously.
“You’ll see. He’s not much of a fighter. He should be an easy target.” Yaashi tossed the bag to Moajei. It came open when it hit the ground and gold coins spilled out. Then Yaashi climbed out the window and returned to his room.
Chapter 6
Verterus woke up in the late evening before anyone else. His stomach growled. With all the activity done yesterday, he needed to feed again.
There was one guy he could bite that would leave him guilt free. He had seen how much money Gina had given that bar keeper. And that should have bought a better room than this one.
He left the room and went down the hallway until he reached the lobby. It was full of many more humans than it had been in the morning. This would make it harder for him to get a meal.
“Hey.” Verterus approached the bar, where the bar keeper stood washing a glass. “There’s something wrong with our room. They sent me out to get you.”
The bar keeper set the glass on the bar and sighed irritably. He climbed over the bar and stomped his way into the hall towards the door to their room.
Wow. That was easy. Verterus thought and followed the human into the hallway.
He jumped at the bar keeper from behind ad bit his neck. Then, as Jomeiah had taught him, he put the sleeping spell on his victim.
The only problem was he had done that too soon. One of the humans in the lobby had seen him. They shouted and rallied up a few others. Verterus didn’t even notice.
A shadow loomed over him and darkened the floor. That got Verterus’s attention. He let go of the bar keeper and turned around. Several humans stood behind him with weapons.
“So you’re the limbless vampire everyone was talking about.” The closest one said. “I’m Moajei. Nice to meet you.”
Verterus’s heart leapt and he barely jumped out of the way as the man’s sword came at him. He ran to the door to his room, opened it, and went inside. The instant he closed the door a knife hit the spot where his head had been, sticking through the wood.
Jomeiah woke up at the noise. “What’s going on?”
“Hunters!” Verterus said. “There’s a bunch of them out there, including Moajei.”
The blade left the wood as if someone pulled it out on the other side. Verterus pressed both hands on the door to keep anyone from bursting in. Just as he suspected, there was a banging on the other side.
“What did you do?” Jomeiah asked.
“It wasn’t me!” Verterus said. “They already knew about us.”
“But who—never mind. I’ll wake the others.”
“Hurry.” Verterus said as she got out of the bed and woke the others.”
“It sounds like he got the entire village to help him.” Gina said as she pressed her own hands against the door to help Verterus keep them back.
“What did you do this time, Verterus?” Yaashi asked.
“You were the only one who made any contact with the outside world last night. We never left the room.” Roegh observed. “I think the question is what did you do?”
“I just found his room.” Yaashi said.
“Then how did they know to look for a limbless vampire?” Verterus asked. “Or do they all assume every limbless person that comes around to be a vampire?”
Gina looked through the key hole of the door. “There’s too many of them. Like a small group of spiders fighting a small army of ants. We won’t make it.”
“Then let’s stop arguing and get out of here before they break down the door.” Jomeiah said and climbed out the window.
Yaashi and Roegh followed her. Then Verterus signaled Gina to go first. Once she was out, the door practically burst open behind Verterus as he ran for the exit. A knife and a couple of arrows hit the wall around him as he climbed out. He could see a glance of Gina as she ran through a couple of alleys.
More arrows flew at Verterus as he ran after her. Moajei had a warning. He did not just now plan this. He had the entire village fighting them.
He reached the woods, but lost sight of Gina. He couldn’t find any of the others. They had been separated. He would have to either fight of outrun these humans alone.
Two humans managed to catch up to him when he hesitated to look around for the others. One aimed a crossbow at his chest. An idea came to Verterus’s head. He smiled, making the second human nervous.
The bolt was released and shot at him. He leaned back and caught the bolt as it flew over him. Then he threw it with just as much force at the man who shot it, hitting his leg.
The second took a knife and ran at Verterus. Every stab he took at the vampire he was able to dodge. Then he caught the knife and threw it into the trunk of a tree. The human ran to pull it out, but it was stuck.
There were shouts and a few arrows shot past Verterus as more humans began to approach him.
“Time to go.” He told the human still trying to pull the knife out of the tree. And he ran off.
The humans chased behind him all night until there were suddenly no trees. A large rock stood in a small clearing next to a huge hole in the ground. Verterus skidded to a stop next to the rock as the first rays of the sun seemed to blind him.
His heart raced. It was said that sunlight would make vampires burst into a ball of flame and killed them. He put his hands up as if to shield himself from the deadly rays.
The humans stopped behind him in the trees, as if afraid to go near the sight. Verterus tensed, waiting for the painful death to take place.
Nothing happened. He took his hands down. The sunlight wasn’t comfortable, about like he felt when he stood in the sun for a few hours before he was bitten, but he didn’t burst into flame.
He looked back at the humans, who seemed as shocked as he was.
“He’s not a vampire?” one asked.
“He is! We all saw him bite that man back there!” said another.
“Maybe the witch of Helm likes him.” Another said. “She’ll put a curse on us if we harm him.”
The humans turned to find the other vampires, leaving Verterus alone in his amazement.
Witch? He thought. There’s a witch here? He looked into the hole in the ground. A dark veil spread over it, allowing him to see no more than a little bit into the hole. Definitely some kind of magic involved.
Verterus even noticed that the shadow of this rock called Helm stayed over the hole instead of going west like all the others. There was a feeling of sadness around this area now that the chaos of the humans had disappeared.
Verterus looked at the rock. There was a boulder leaning up against the side, as if blocking an entrance to a cave, like a tomb.
Tomb or not, the humans were afraid of this place, which meant he would be safe from at least them if he slept here. He settled down inside the unmoving shadow of Helm and closed his eyes.
Chapter 7
“Verterus, wake up.” Said a voice.
His eyes opened and although he could not see the sun setting in the corner of his eye, he was still protected in the shade of Helm. Roegh and Gina were next to him.
“The sun is setting.” Gina said. “We have to go find Jomeiah and Yaashi.”
There was a certain pain in Verterus’s heart as Jomeiah’s name was mentioned. He was actually worried about her. The thought of her being in danger seemed to pierce his heart in a way no knife could.
He stood up. Then he and the girls went into the forest to look for the others.
It wasn’t long before they found Yaashi, who looked like had been fighting through the day, though he seemed to move just fine.
“What happened?” Gina asked him.
Yaashi brought up tears. “Jomeiah and I ran from the humans. There were too many of them and they were led by Moajei. I tried to save her, but the demon threw a knife at her while I fought him.”
Every emotion and nerve in Verterus’s body seemed to pause for a while as he went into shock. She couldn’t be dead. Jomeiah couldn’t be dead!
“Are you saying…” Roegh and Gina were as speechless as Verterus.
“Yes.” Yaashi said.
When the shock had passed, anger took its place. He almost felt as though he were on fire. His heart felt like it would explode. Just as he had fallen in love with Jomeiah, Moajei killed her. And now Moajei would suffer Verterus’s wrath.
“What do we do now?” Roegh asked.
“We go after Moajei.” Verterus said. “He won’t be expecting a second attack this soon.”
“Verterus, you can’t—“ Roegh said.
“Don’t call me that!” he snapped. “My name is Neshae.” When Roegh, Gina, and Yaashi looked at each other with puzzled expressions, he added, “She wanted me to change it back. It’s the least I can do for her now.”
Neshae turned ad took off in flight towards the village. The other three vampires still didn’t fully understand, but they took off after him.
Two moons were high in the sky when the four reached the village. They stopped and laded a little ways from it. Neshae folded his wings around him to look like a cape like Jomeiah had taught him.
“So how are we going to do this?” Roegh asked.
“We look for Moajei and kill him when we find him.” Neshae said.
Yaashi shrugged and completely disappeared. Neshae opened his mouth to say something, but then Roegh and Gina vanished as well.
“What did you just do?” he asked, hoping they were still there and hadn’t teleported to leave him to fight Moajei alone.
“We’re in camouflage.” The voice of Yaashi said. “Just want to disappear from all eyes and you will.”
Neshae knew it wasn’t that easy. He had wanted nothing more than to just disappear and run back to his old like since he had been bitten.
“Good. Now come on.” Yaashi’s voice said.
Surprised, Neshae held a hand in front of his face to see if he had really disappeared. He could still see it. Maybe he could see himself when no one else could.
No. He thought. They were in camouflage. They didn’t just turn invisible. If he could still see himself, so could anyone else.
“Yaashi. I’m still visible.” Neshae called out. There was no answer. “Damn it.” He said and went along the edge of the village out o the hope he might find Moajei there.
“Hey.” Said an unfamiliar voice.
Neshae looked around and saw a man just a little shorter than himself. He was dressed in sorcerer’s robes and pointed ears stuck out of his brown hair. Neshae’s fangs came out defensively.
“Don’t bite me. I won’t harm you.” The sorcerer said. “I’m going to help you. I understand that you are looking for the vampire hunter, Moajei.”
“Yeah.” Neshae said. “Why would a sorcerer help a vampire?”
“That stupid rivalry between vampires and witches is completely senseless. We would be much more powerful if we worked together. Now listen. Moajei has left already. He has gone back to his home. He has a fortress north east of here. It’s a days walk away.”
“How do I know you’re not just leading me into a trap?” Neshae asked. “Luring a vampire right into the clutches of a vampire hunter would give you quite a reward.”
“I’m coming with you.” He said. “My name is Dehairn. Moajei killed a friend of mine, mistaking him for a vampire. So why do you want to find him?”
“He killed a friend of mine too.” Neshae said, the invisible knife stabbed at him again in her memory.
“Well, you want revenge, I want revenge, if we work together, we’ll beat him and rid the world of his evil.” Dehairn said.
Neshae’s fangs retracted. “There’s just one problem. I’m not the only one trying to find this guy. There are three other members of my vampire coven looking for him.”
“Well, you four could use all the help you can get. We are on the same side. I don’t think they will mind that much.”
Neshae shrugged. “Your funeral. Let’s look for them.” He turned to find the others.
“You’re a new vampire, aren’t you?” Dehairn asked.
Neshae stopped and turned around to face him. “Why?”
“Vampires have some telepathy abilities.” Dehairn said. “You can just contact them. Didn’t they teach you that?”
Neshae turned again so he couldn’t see the pain on his face. “She didn’t have time. She was killed by Moajei before she got the chance.”
“Oh.” Dehairn said quietly. “I understand. Come on then. Let’s find your friends. But just one thing. What’s your name?”
“Neshae.” He answered and they continued on.
“May I ask,” Dehairn started. “How long have you been a vampire?”
“A few nights.”
“Pretty young to be going against an experienced vampire slayer.” Dehairn said.
“You don’t know how old I am.”
“Well, you’ve only been a vampire for a few nights. And you only look in your early teens. I can only assume…”
“I don’t care.” Neshae said. “I’ve gone beyond being careful because my life has only just begin. I have things in this world I have to do. I can’t wait until I’m fully grown.”
“You sound like you’ve either attained great wisdom in the last few days or you insane.” Dehairn said.
Neshae smiled. “A little of both, really. I’ve found my insanity and discovered life’s more fun that way.”
Dehairn was silent after that.
“Neshae, look out!” said the voice of Gina.
Neshae quickly stepped between the voice and Dehairn before she could kill him.
“It’s okay.” He said. “He’s gonna help us.”
Gina suddenly appeared in front of Neshae. Roegh and Yaashi followed behind her. Neshae told them everything that Dehairn had told him earlier.
“Neshae joining forces with the enemy.” Yaashi said. “You’ve turned against us. You can either leave now or we will have to kill you.”
Roegh looked at Yaashi. “What is wrong with you? I think Neshae is brilliant. Besides, he’s right. We need all the help we can get and as long as we’re on the same side, we might as well get along. Let’s go.”
Chapter 8
The vampires flew north east to the fortress. Neshae had to carry Dehairn most of the way, helped only by Roegh because she was the only one who understood Neshae's logic.
They landed next to the small castle. It was simply made with the regular four walls made out of stone, but there were skeletons hanging from the wals. Hundreds of skeletons, and even some bodies, both fresh and decaying, hung all around the fortress. Neshae noticed that most of them had vampire fangs, but did not look any longer. The pain would have been worse if he'd seen Jomeiah's body there.
"Come on." Neshae said. Carrying Dehairn, he jumped up and flew to one of the windows. The others followed him inside.
This room seemed to be a gallery of swords. Blades of all different shapes, sizes, and materials hung on the walls.
A blade on the wall a few feet away from Neshae caught his attention. The blade was made of some kind of black, sharpened crystal. It was three feet long and curved like a slithering serpent. The hilt was made of hemitite and had a vampire skull in the middle with fangs coated in silver and runies in the eye sockets. The handle was wrapped in black leather and had runes burned into it.
Neshae too that sword from the wall. It would have ben heavy for a human, but it was light as a feather with his new vampire strength. Part of him was reminded of his father's fire sword and how he had always loved swords since he discovered he was one of the few who could use it.
"Where's Yaashi?" Roegh asked.
They looked around. Yaashi was gone. Gina looked out the window, but he wasn't still outside.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Dehairn said.
"Hey! Over here!" Yaashi's voice came from the door leading out on the far side of the room.
"There you are." Roegh said and she and Gina followed the voice.
Neshae hesitated for a moment. He hadn't seen Yaashi go by him. In fact, the only way he would have gotten by was to be in camouflage. And what reason would he have to be in camouflage among friends? This seemed a little strange to Neshae.
"I've found Moajei." Yaashi's voice said. Strange or not, he had to defeat Moajei. Neshae followed the girls and Dehairn followed him.
Neshae went out the door and was ambushed by an invisible force. Invisible hands grabbed his own and held them behind his back. They were not human hands or he would have been able to get free. The black sword fell to the floor. Ahead, he saw Roegh and Gina tied and gagged at the back of a room across the hall.
Neshae cried out just before an invisible hand covered his mouth. He began to understand what was going on.
Yaashi had told Moajei about their attack. Yaashi had been working for Moajei all this time. Yaashi had camouflaged himself and gotten past Neshae or had gone another way. Yaashi had lured them into a trap. And now, Yaashi was going to hand them all over to Moajei.
It can't end like this! He thought desperately. Something happened in that split second before Dehairn would walk out of the sword gallery. His mind seemed to reach out and touch Dehairn's. I hope this works. He thought and tried to speak to the sorcerer telepathically.
I need your help! He said. Yaashi led us in a trap!
An invisible force knocked Neshae in the back of the head, forcing him out of his telepathy.
"You think I wouldn't be listening for telepathy?" Yaashi's voice said quietly in Neshae's ear. "You'd better hope the message doesn't get through." The invisible hands tied Neshae's hands together.
The door to the sword gallery suddenly burst of the hinges and hit Yaashi, knocking him to the ground. Dehairn came out and untied Neshae's hands.
"I knew you gould figure it out." the sorcerer said proudly.
Yaashi had been knocked out of his camouflage, so Neshae saw when he pushed the door off of himself and stood up.
"Look out!" Neshae said as Yaashi took a swing at Dehairn.
Dehairn turned around and a green, transparent force field appeared between him and Yaashi, shielding him from the blow.
"You help the others." Neshae told Dehairn. "I'll handle this."
Yaashi made no move to stop Dehairn as he ran past him into the other room to help Roegh and Gina. "You must be insane to think you can beat me. Did Jomeiah drive you crazy?"
Chapter 9
Neshae picked up the black sword and slashed at Yaashi. "How could you have betrayed her like that? You loved her too!"
Yaashi ducked. "Love and jelousy are funny things. I merely made sure you two would never fall in love. If I couldn't have her, no one would."
Pain and anger flowed through Neshae and seemed to give him power. He fought ferociously like he never thought he could. THough Yaashi was able to duck out of the way.
"We're coming, Neshae!" Gina called. Yaashi turned and closed the door before anyone could escape.
This was Neshae's one chance. Could he kill a man with his back turned? That was Jomeiah'a rule in fighting. If you don't give it all you have, you'll perish. But it still didn't seem right. And he had a mere instant to make the decision.
He timed it perfectly. He sprang at his target just as it was turning around. Neshae thrust the black sword deep into Yaashi's chest, making sure he hit the heart.
There was a look of shock in Yaashi's eyes. He stood there for a moment.
"That's for Jomeiah." Neshae said.
"I can't believe you actually beat me..." Yaashi said before he fell over, never to rise again.
"Neshae!" A muffled voice came from behind the door Yaashi closed. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" Neshae answered. "I'm gonna help you guys out now!"
"THere's no time!" Dehairn's voice said. "THere was a spell on the door! Moajei is going to come and kill us if you don't kill him first! I'll try to unlock the door so we can help you, but for now you have to fight him!"
"Okay!" Neshae said.
He looked down the hallway to the left. It was a dead end. The path to the right seemed to turn to the left. Moajei would be coming from that direction.
Neshae removed his sword from Yaashi's chest and ran down the hallway. He was nearly shot by a crossbow bolt as he turned the corner. Moajei had heard him coming.
The vampire slayer shot another bolt, which Neshae barely dodged. He would have to get Moajei to come to him if he was going to stand a fighting chance.
"Come over here and fight like a man!" he taunted. "Or are you really the coward everyone's been saying you are?"
Moajei dropped the crossbow and drew a sword. He ran at Neshae and swung at him.
Neshae was simply faster than a human, so dodging the first blow was easy. It was after Moajei drew another sword that the fight became difficult.
Neshae spent most of the time constantly blocking Moajei's blows. Every now and then, he found a chance to kick Moajei somewhere, but this did not seem to weaken the hunter much.
One blow sent Neshae's sword flying out of his hand. Moajei held the points of his sowrds aimed at Neshae's heart.
"You should havve allowed the crossbow to hit you, boy." he said. "It would have been less painful than these blades."
"There!" Dehairn's voice said and the door burst open. Neshae and Moajei looked in that direction. Neshae dove and rolled to the side to escape Moajei's blades and retrieved his own sword.
"I'm not beaten yet!" He said and began swordfighting Moajei again.
While Moajei was distracted by Neshae, Roegh and Gina each pounced on him and bit his neck. He tried to fight them off but Neshae thrust his sword through Moajei's leather armor.
Moajei tried to pull the sword out of his chest, but the blade broke and was stuck in his body.
Neshae sat and leaned against a wall, sweating. It was over. He had finished Jomeiah's wish. He had avenged her.
"Neshae." Roegh said. "You should take the last of his blood. You need to get stronger if you're going to fight all the other vampire hunters."
"Others?" Neshae asked.
"As long as there will be vampires, there will always be vampire hunters. And when they find out that you killed Moajei, there will be quite a reward for your head." Dehairn explained.
As tired as he was, Neshae realized that they were right. He took the last of Moajei's blood.
Chapter 10
The sky was gray the next evening as the four gathered around the fortress. There was no body for Jomeiah to have a funeral so they gathered wood and set a fire to burn Moajei's fortress. Maybe it would satisfy the souls of all those hanging from the walls, maybe not. It burned into the night.
They sat in the light of the fire. No one said a word. It was Gina that broke the silence.
"So what do we do now?"
"I will go find a place where I can study more magic." Dehairn said. "My abilities re limited."
"I guess I'll keep looking for a better man than Yaashi. He turned out to be a bad choice." Roegh said.
"You liked Yaashi?" Gina asked.
Roegh nodded.
"I'm gonna look for my brother." Neshae said. "He's out there somewhere. I just have to look."
"I wish you luck on your quest." Dehairn said.
"Thanks." Neshae stood up. "I'll start now." He turned from the fire and headed into the trees.
If he stayed with the group, it would just bring him pain. Too many memories. Besides, Rayman was never able to stay in the same place for long. If he was going to find him, he'd better get started.
The End
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Comments: 3
Lol That story's so old I should probably go back and edit it. XD THanks though.
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