Book One Chapter Sixteen: Cowardice Weakens The Strong

After fleeing from the fight in Libel, Saja has Luna engage Nick and his friends in combat in the village of Alum.

Chapter Sixteen Cowardice Weakens The Strong: We went downstairs. I guessed that it was about 5:00 AM (by Earth standards, at least.) So we checked out. The sun had not risen yet. We walked across a flat plain to a nearby village. The walk was uneventful and dark. The village was very small, and very close to Libel.

“This is Alum.” Said the king as we walked through the entrance.

I looked around. Alum was a pretty humble village, smaller than Libel, but not by much. The buildings were closely packed, shops, a church, inns and other slightly larger buildings could be seen around. Like Libel, there were houses with small fenced in areas behind them with crops growing inside the fence. I even saw a building that looked like a hospital, it had a red symbol on it that resembled a cross, but looked circular. It was odd, compared to Earth, at least. There were quite a few people outside that I could see.

We saw everyone garbed in black robes, much like the one Carlos had on. I knew immediately that we were among vampires because some of the figures had red eyes.

“Remember the plan. Find the rebels, and get out." I quietly ordered my friends.

 

Everyone nodded. I turned around and bumped into a vampire. My heart skipped a beat.

“Sorry.” I said.

I walked on. The vampire I had bumped into didn't seem to care. I walked to the town square and what I saw next fueled a fire of fear and anger inside of me that could have scorched my soul; I saw Saja talking to some other vampires. She looked at me with her trademark evil smile.

“There! There is a rebel!” She yelled.

Fear blossomed inside of me. Saja had not only set her sights on me, but she also got nearby vampires to target me, too! I turned to run.

“Great.” I muttered.

All of the vampires were on me in an instant. I was surrounded. Saja smiled a cruel smile. I drew my sword and turned to face my opponents.

 

I heard a war cry and turned towards it. A male vampire was running at me. I lifted my sword uncertainly. He was running at me. I had to kill him. I cut him down in two strokes. The blade cut through him as if he were paper.

“I hope the rest of you can try a little harder than him!” I cockily said.

A vampire after him came at me, a female. Waited for her to draw closer. When she was about ten feet away, she spoke to me.

“Do not fear, I will try harder than him.” She said, pointing to the male I had just slain.

I dispatched her with a quick upwards stroke.

“I don’t think so!” I said.

One other came and I put my hand to its forehead and pushed backwards, throwing him off balance. Then I stabbed down through the collar bone. I didn’t have time to shift the sword blade up, so I punched the next vampire that came at me with the hilt, then got the sword upright and stabbed it in the chest.

“Down you go!” I shouted.

I was getting good at this. Another vampire came at me and I chopped down like a lumberjack with my sword. It caught the vampire right between the eyes and it was crippled instantly.

“Right between the eyes!” I taunted.

I was thankful that the sword was very light and took little strength to swing. I then looked up from the crippled vampire who I had hit between the eyes.

 

I saw that running across the rooftops was Luna! Her shirt was still bloodied from her gunshot wound, but it didn't seem to slow her down. I recalled Luna mentioning seeing a healer to me when I woke up next to her in the cave. Maybe she had seen a healer? Did Saja heal her? Luna had a murderous looking blade herself. It was a barbed blade that had many smaller, shorter blades branching off from the main one.

“Don’t worry, you’re next!” I called up to Luna.

I was not surrounded by vampires anymore. Luna jumped down from the rooftops, landing in front of me with her blade out and ready to fight.

“Do not think it will be so easy!” Luna said through barred teeth as she swung her sword at me.

I blocked her attempt to injure me and I slashed at Luna myself, but missed.

“I can see you have not used that blade for long. You are inexperienced.” Luna stated.

“I’m experienced enough to kill you!” I spat.

Luna chuckled.

“We shall see.” She said with a small smile.

"Luna! Please come to your senses! We can help you out of this!" Cried the queen.

Luna just chuckled. More vampires came from somewhere in the village. I heard a strange noise. It sounded like something I once heard in a video game. Like pure energy being grinded up then being released. A few more sounds like that continued. All was silent except the sounds of energy being grinded up then released. I turned towards the sound. It was Carlos on the rooftops. He had his gun and was shooting some of the other vampires that had just arrived. The strange sounds were his gunshots. He was keeping the vampires off of me so that I could take on Luna. Luna came at me. She swiped at me with her sword. It was a vertical swipe, so I countered it with a horizontal stroke of my blade, catching hers on the underside.

“I think it’s you who hasn’t used your blade for very long.” I taunted Luna.

Luna made an angry swipe at me at shoulder level. I ducked beneath her blade and stabbed at her exposed gut, but she saw me coming and recovered her fighting stance in time to block me.

“If you are so skilled, how come you have not hit me yet?” Luna asked cockily.

I answered with a stab to her shoulder, which she dodged around and stabbed at my chest. I sidestepped her and brought my sword back up, ready for another attack.

Luna swung her sword at me. I readied my sword to block her. I heard a gunshot from Carlos. Luna jumped out of the way and the bullet hit where she had been. I glanced at the vampires that surrounded us and saw that Carlos couldn’t shoot at Luna again until he had killed enough vampires to clear a path for a shot.

Luna swung her blade low. It hit my leg. Letting my guard down was a huge mistake. It then felt as if my leg was dipped in an inferno. I screamed and fell to the ground. Luna’s blade must be coated in poison. There is no other explanation. I screamed in pain again.

“What is that!?” I yelled in horror.

Luna gave me a sly smile. It is the same smile that Saja gave me when I was imprisoned by her. It was a smile of confidence and arrogance.

“Poison. Quite a useful thing, no?” Luna asked.

“No.” I said.

I looked around me. Vampires were all around me, surrounded Luna and I. My friends kept them occupied for the time being, but how long could they do that? Carlos kept them off of me with his gun, though. The pain in my leg was dying down. I could stand on it now. The pain lasted only a few seconds, not long enough for Luna to recompose herself and attack me. I picked up my sword and made sure to keep Luna’s blade away from my skin. Luna swung her blade at my chest. At that same moment a vampire got past Carlos and my friends and snuck up behind me, but made the mistake of stepping on a twig. I jumped away from Luna’s blade and spun around. I cut the vampire down. I turned back to Luna. My adrenaline was spiked now and I reeled my sword back, ready to strike Luna. Luna was not ready for my quick attack on the vampire and didn’t expect me to be ready for her so soon. I swung my sword down on a diagonal angle and delivered her a deep gash across the face.

“Who is inexperienced now, Luna?” I asked cockily.

She clutched her face in pain, blood dripped from her wound and coated her hand. It dripped to the ground and I could hear the vampires around us get louder. I felt no remorse for hurting her. She had betrayed us. She was no longer with us.

“Still… You!” Luna shouted as she lunged for me.

I had to admit, she was persistent. She didn’t know when to quit. I saw an opening in her guard and went for it. She pivoted on the spot and dodged just in time.

 

I turned quickly to meet her and block the attack that was sure to come, and it did. I spun around just in time to see her stabbing her sword towards my chest. I deflected her thrust off of my sword and we continued fighting.

“Try a little harder, please.” I taunted her.

I could hear Luna give a frustrated huff as she swung her blade low at ankle level. I jumped and gave her a gash across the chest. Her blood flowed onto my sword and down her shirt.

“I got you again. You really are bad at this.” I cockily told her.

She howled in anger and swung her blade vertically with crushing force down on me in spite of her wounds which I thought would have weakened her. I evaded her attack and her blade hit the ground. I stood on her blade as she was about to pull it up. She was not prepared for the weight and fell back. I used my own sword and thrusted it at her, ready to kill her. Before my sword reached her chest, Luna cried something out;

“Last Stand!”

I stabbed her three times in the chest, but nothing happened, it just bounced off her skin with the array of shimmering light. Luna started to float upward. What? Confusion filled me. She dove at me, still flying, but she had no wings! Luna had shouted ‘Last Stand’, was that some kind of defense mechanism for her? What was going on?

“What’s happening!?” Carlos shouted as her fired his gun at her.

The bullets hit Luna, but deflected off of her with an array of shimmering light.

“She’s shielded!” I shouted.

Luna flew down and struck me with her sword. This strike was a lot stronger than and of her attacks had been a moment ago, before she called out ‘Last Stand’. We locked blades and she pushed on my sword.

“Prepare to die!” Luna shouted.

I desperately tried to hold my ground against Luna, but she was just too strong! She gave me a shove with her sword against mine. It knocked me back and I hit the wall of a nearby house a few feet away. I hit my head and my vision flashed. My mind clouded for a moment. I was sitting down slumped over. I leaned against the wall, somewhat standing up and readied my sword. She was coming at me with full force, at full speed while flying through the air.

“Let’s bring everything to an end!” I shouted at Luna.

“It is you or me!” Luna shouted, still flying at me at top speed.

She had her sword pulled back, ready to strike me when she arrived. The cloudiness in my head passed and I stood up fully, I was ready for Luna. Luna swiped at me and I blocked her blow to my chest, using the wall as a place to brace myself against. Her blow knocked me against the wall again. We locked blades for a moment, then she removed her blade from mine. She reeled back and was going to swipe at me again. That’s when something totally insane happened.

“Enough Luna.” I recognized the voice; it was Saja.

“You have proven your strength to the boy. Come now. Let us leave this wretched village.” Saja said.

What? Did Saja just… Save my life… From Luna?

“Saja, what…?” I trailed off, slightly dazed from being smacked against the wall a few times.

“Oh, Nick. Our battle has only just begun. What would the fun in having you die this early be?” Saja asked me.

I was too stunned from her answer and being slammed against the wall to ask any more questions.

Luna ran to Saja and Saja sprouted her black wings with Luna in her arms.

“Until we meet again, Nick.” Saja said with a cold smile.

With that, she flew away with Luna in her arms, disappearing into the dark, early morning sky. I groaned as I sat up. I wiped Luna’s blood off of my sword.

“Every bullet from my gun should have killed her.” Said Carlos.

“Luna has some kind of defense mechanism. When she shouted ‘Final Stand’ she became a lot stronger and started flying!” I said in amazement.

“Yes, I saw. Although you will never see Luna do that ever again.” Carlos said.

That was a relief.

“Why not?” I asked.

“Because that was a one time use spell. I have seen them at work before. They give the target inhuman abilities such as incredible strength, speed, agility as well as the ability to fly. The spell can only be used once on any given person, and only a few people can administer them.” Carlos explained.

“Well, that’s a relief.” I said.

I saw another man coming at us, actually, he was more of a boy, fifteen, maybe. Younger than I was. I was up in a second and drew my sword. The boy approached with his hands up to show that he was unarmed.

“Thank you for freeing this village from those pests.” He said.

I saw that he was friendly so I sheathed my sword.

“I am Fenton. I am a rebel. I saw you fighting those vampires as a team and I would like to join you.” The boy said.

Fenton was fairly skinny, he couldn't have weighed much over 140 pounds, he had dark hair, and a fairly monotonous voice.

“You’re in luck, we are as rebels well." I told Fenton.

I looked to my friends.

“Do you guys want him coming along?” I asked.

Everyone shrugged.

“We need rebels and have not found many as of late. It would not be a bad idea to bring him along with us.” The king said.

I turned back to Fenton.

“Very well. Welcome to the group.” I told Fenton.

“Thank you! You will not regret your decision!” Fenton exclaimed.

"I think we should stay in the village for a little longer. We found something in Libel so we could find something here." I said.

Lauren crossed her arms and laughed.

“Yes, you found a vampire assassin who almost killed you.” She said.

“That’s beside the point. I did find out about vampire royalty.” I contradicted Lauren.

“Alright, let us split up.” Lauren said and shrugged.

I went towards the edge of the village, Lauren and Fenton took the other end, Carlos took a side and the king and queen took the other side. I headed in the direction of the tavern. If I was going to learn anything, rumors, stories, it would be in the tavern. I went inside.

 

I saw mostly vampires. As soon as I walked in all of them looked up. I backed away.

“I won’t harm any of you unless you harm me.” I told them.

I was mildly afraid, but I knew that I could hold my own against a vampire. Most of them looked away, some still eyed me. It was unnerving. I went over to the bartender.

“What have you got?” He looked over at me.

“Mostly liquor.” He said in a very deep voice.

“I’ll take a shot of rum.” I said.

I knew I wasn’t of legal drinking age, but who was going to stop me? The vampire police? Besides, if I was going to overhear something here, I had to blend in. The bartender shot me a questioning look.

"Rum? I know of every alcoholic drink in Ectoclis, I've never heard of this... Rum." He said.

Instead, he poured me a clear, turquoise drink. He didn’t even charge me. I wondered why, but didn’t object. The bartender saw my worried expression

"It is alright. It looks as though you freed the village of the aggressive vampires, the ones in here may look mean, but they're all fairly friendly, unless you do something that gets on their nerves." The bartender said.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I said, nodding to the bartender.

 

Before I could drink, something smashed on my head. It hurt! It sounded like glass. No glass fragments got into my skin. It was a glass bottle. Before my mind could tell me anything else, I unsheathed my sword, turned around and lashed out, cutting a female vampire across the chest. She fell to the ground with a light sound of pain. I sheathed my sword and turned back to the bartender.

“You have got some good reflexes.” The bartender muttered.

“Thank you.” I said.

I reached for my glass and took a sip. It tasted sweet, but as I swallowed, it burned a bitter trail all the way down my throat, it tasted pretty good, and I took another sip. It left a warm feeling in my stomach. I stayed at the tavern for another 30 minutes. Before I turned to go, I overheard two people at a table behind me. They were leaned in closely, talking to each other.

"Word has it that there's a rebellion against a lass named Saja." One said.

"Aye, heard 'bout that meself." Said the other.

 

The two people sitting at that table were both male.

"There's a fellow roundin' up all them rebels, he's gonna take her out, it seems." Said the first one.

            “Aye, ‘bout time somebody stood up to that dame.” The second man slurred.

They didn't really say anything useful, so I decided it was about time to meet back up at the square. I left the tavern and went back to where we departed. They were all there, waiting for me.

“Find anything?” I asked.

They all shook their heads.

“Me neither.” I said with sadness.

Lauren stepped up.

“It looks like Alum was a waste of time.” She said, shaking her head.

“No.” I contradicted.

“Every rebel helps. And we also drove vampires out of another village.” I said hopefully.

The king shrugged.

“That is true.” He said.

“We should head out.” suggested Lauren.

“Where will we go?” I asked.

I figured that if we go back to the werewolf castle it would remind the king and queen too much of Luna.

“We could go back to Libel.” I suggested.

“The townspeople would be happy to have us. Besides, who knows if something new has surfaced there?” The queen pointed out.

Everyone seemed to agree so we went out the front gate and began to walk to Libel.

Author's Note

Please tell me what you think :)