Richard Adams

Vampires are fast, probably some of the fastest monsters there are on Xentos. The problem with their speed was that it burned their blood. It would make a vampire hungrier. It also had a habit of making them leak from their pores, and leaving a trail on anything they touched. It wasn't a problem for a couple of vampires, though it did make tracking them easier. When you had an army of them roll through a town though? Well, you end up with a tainted forest.

The fire quietly burned through the nerves on my neck and face. My tear ducts were cooked and restored as I had to manually control the fluids coming out of them. This wasn't the time to cry, nor the time to grieve. The pain I felt from my nerves burning was probably on par with the emotional pain I felt right now. I killed someone, their body was laying right there. Half convulsing, half gripping the ground. Vampire bodies could be active for twenty-four hours after the destruction of the head. The stronger vampires could regrow another head, but these were what Oswald would call, 'young bloods.'

The four fanned out, not getting close to Mimi or the wagon. I looked at her for a second, this is what you wanted, right? Her eyes were watching me because I called out to her earlier. It would be so easy to tell her to slaughter these four. The first one moved towards me but backed away when I threatened to throw my explosives at him. They still wanted to live, just like me. Just like the one I killed. They could smell the blood inside me, it's all they wanted. Sadly, I couldn't let them have any.

I laughed, causing number three to scowl. "What's so funny, asshole?"

I looked at his mouth, knowing it wasn't worth the risk to be dominated. I would probably be fine, but it wasn't worth it like I said. The night was still young, the heat of summer was cooling from the dark sake of night. There was enough light for me to see everything just fine. "I just realized how easy it is to kill someone. Just one bottle of explosive, and pop!" I spread my hands out, shaking the bottle at the one that came closer.

They were circling me, and I kept them at bay. I knew I was bluffing here, one explosive would kill one of them. The unknown was what scared them. My arms spat fire whenever I was bitten, they probably smelt the burnt blood used as fuel. They had to drink my blood, but who knew what I'd do with it. Number four swallowed hard, "Please... let us drink. I don't want to lose myself."

Three spoke up after, "We'll make sure it doesn't hurt, promise."

Two shot three a glare but said nothing. I shook my head, "No. It's too late now. I wanted to help, I wanted to talk it out, but you attacked me. Now you need to die."

One spoke up, "Listen, kid. Your hands are shaking, you don't want to do this anymore than we do. I felt sorry for you, up until you killed one of us. Just a quick prick and it's done. That's all there is to it, we're wasting the night away. If we drink your blood, we can get water for our families, and start rebuilding. Our town doesn't have to die like this, we'll build a statue for you, you'll be a hero for what you did today."

I chuckled at his 'explanation,' "Five fewer vampires in a town means more blood to go around. You see, I have a talent, it's called; spontaneous combustion. Anything I touch can just burst into flames. I can even delay it with normally fire retardent substances, see this isn't actually a bomb. I'm just an alchemist that tamed a very expensive monster."

Three scowled, "You're a fucking noble from Eclipse!" He lunged at me, coming in a straight line. I slammed the bottle against his face as he clawed at my quilt. I was thankful to Emery as it kept him from tearing through my stomach, his claws too weak to puncture the fabric. It did knock the wind out of me before I skidded along the ground beside the wagons. Three was dead, and I didn't even know his name. Just life number five. I wanted to cry, but no tears came out. They were people, with their own lives, just forced to do terrible things to survive.

The remaining three were too cautious to approach me. They didn't want to risk my fake talent being real. They didn't know I didn't have one. I slowly propped myself up on the wheel of the back wagon, having been launched maybe ten feet (3 meters) by that jab. Other vampires had come over, and I saw a few more leaving the town. A young-looking man with deep red skin approached. "Greetings, sir Richard. I just discussed what happened with my associates."

I coughed a little, looking at him, "Oh yeah? I don't want to kill all of you, but I will if I have to." I forced a smile, just to make me look crazy. I didn't want to take any more lives tonight.

The man frowned, taking a step forward. The wagon rocked with the marching of the Hive. It stopped when he took a step back. He tilted his head curiously but refrained from asking. "My name is Mark." He bowed, hand over his heart. "I sincerely apologize for the awful welcome you received from us. You must understand, times are tough."

I recovered fully from the jab, even though my chest was still sore. I stood up straight, nodding. "Ya, I'll say. I came here to help you guys, and as soon as the fucking sun goes down, you start trying to drink my blood."

Mark held up his hands defensively, "You have every right to be upset, but maybe I could placate you?" He looked at a group, nodding. Immediately the remaining three that attacked me were apprehended." Mark put a hand over his chest, "I am the son of our late town elder. I did not want to inherit this role, but the world seldom gives us time to prepare once the worst comes to pass."

All three were brought kicking and screaming to the ground, just behind Mark. "Glad to meet you Mark, um... what do you plan on doing with those three?"

Mark smiled, waving his hands with a flourish. "I heard what you said, about fewer vampires to feed meaning more blood for the rest of us." He walked to the first one, who begged him to stop. A swift stomp and their head was crushed. "You didn't intend on letting them get away, did you? It's only just that I should show you we do not wish for any more trouble." The second thrashed as Mark approached them.

"Don't you know them? Why are you doing this for me?" I couldn't look away, I couldn't show fear here. I wanted to beg him to stop, but he was right. If they lived, they might attack others.

Mark let out a soft sigh, before crushing the second. The final one hanging their head low. "It breaks my heart with every death, but all that's left are bits and pieces. I am doing this for the sake of order, and so that this town may live!" He did a twirl, both pant legs soaked with blood. "I grew up with these people, and yet I saw some of them betray others to save themselves. The Count opened my eyes!"

He was insane, and yet the others watched him with admiration and fear. "What do you mean?" I winced as the final pop happened.

Mark moved his claws through his jet black hair, combing it back. "Eclipse is more than capable of wiping away the Kingdom of Fire. There was no order to how the Count moved his army. He just told the ones under him to march them forward. It was less a duty, and more a chore for such a monster. Eclipse doesn't care about the towns and villages settling inside its borders, just like a monster doesn't care about fleas drinking its blood. The flea will wither and die, while the monster just carries on."

"You have a very high opinion of Eclipse then." I watched him as he whispered something to those holding the bodies. He met my gaze with a smile, arms spread out.

"Right you are! I've read a bit of news brought by carrier birds from both sides. The Kingdom of Fire stated the Count is dead, while Eclipse made no such announcement. Tell me, are there vampires inside Eclipse?"

I squinted at him, "Kind of? I know most monsters live in the Underground, but the Count has always been right beside the King. Why are you asking?"

Mark grinned before crossing his arms. "Well aside from confirming you are a noble since you've suggested you have seen both in person. I surmise that the Count is not dead given said vampires haven't gone wild with his absence. Therefore, it is suicide on our part to attack anyone with power in the court of Eclipse. More so, if we attack a caravan sent by them to help aid us in these troubling times." He gestured towards me, clutching his hand to his chest at the end.

He was completely off his rocker since what powerful kingdom would say their two strongest reasons for preventing an all-out attack were gone? I just nodded along, "I'm not a noble."

Mark chuckled, "No need to be so modest. Though I suspect you might be pretending. I have your bounties from a week ago, that laughable amount isn't much at all. Carrier birds still drop off important news after all. Not to mention you just slew two vampires on your own, and you claimed Mimi can dismember a fiend on her own." He gestured to her.

"She can..." I really didn't want him getting any wrong ideas, plus she already killed tougher things. Fiends were the kind of a low bar for her, but pretty high for the rest of us.

Mark clapped his hands, "If you say it is so, then I am convinced! Besides, that's not the look of someone who is bluffing about strength. You were struggling, but you refrained from calling her to your aid. You hesitate to kill but have crossed the line to do it if needed. It's liberating, is it not?"

I shook my head, "Can't say I like it." I rolled my shoulders, "Is there anything you need or want to talk about? I'm kind of done for the night."

Mark whispered something to the others, and they broke off from him. "It is not my place to ask questions, but merely ask if I have appeased your anger. We have quite literally spit in your face with our paltry attack, even after you went through such lengths to feed my people. Is there anything I can do to quell any resentment you might harbor? Anything at all to make it up to you?"

This would be the guy to ask if I wanted to save what was left of this town. I slumped a little, not wanting to deal with crazy. Though, I felt kind of bad for the people still living here. I couldn't abandon them, and I was already too deep into it now. "Your town is struggling, and I don't want it to die..." I bit off the sentence before I could change my mind.

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Mark bowed deeply, "You are very generous, indeed. I am humbled by your unending benevolence and touched by your kindness. I must admit, it will be hard to survive in this state, but we might manage."

I swallowed hard, "How do I help you? What needs to be done, to make sure you do survive? Is there a way to keep you from drinking the blood of others in your town? What is going on with them right now?"

Mark considered my question, "Well, purifying the well would go a long way to helping us. Then there is rebuilding the walls, followed by rebuilding the houses. There was a village that provided us with lumber for our kiln, but I haven't heard from them in a while. I sent a vampire out to contact them about a week ago."

"We must have missed them, but we did find the village. Rouge wisps raised their dead and killed them all. We were too late to find any survivors. It might be a good place to move some of your people to. What food was there, is probably gone, but we set up some stuff to protect anyone that settles there."

Mark scratched his chin, "I see, I feared such, but young villages without walls do tend to fall without notice. I imagine cursed weapons might linger there, or did you take them with you?" I confirmed the former for him. "At the very least it is clear you aren't doing this for the coin. There are likely a few people and vampires that do not wish to follow under me. I'll see if we can't reach an agreement after the walls are built. What kind of safety are we talking about." He snapped his fingers, "Ah yes, before I forget. The others are sleeping. Having your blood drained is very tiring."

I nodded, "What methods do you have to ensure too much isn't drained? As for protection, it's a small hive of bugs that are growing. They can hunt, and kill a lot of things. The only issue is undead, so they'd be mostly harmless to you."

Mark tilted his head, "Bugs? No, do not consider the notion that I have doubted you. If you say it is safe because of bugs, then I will believe it until proven otherwise. As for excess draining, and I thank you for calling it that, if someone dies the one responsible dies as well. It has quelled our numbers, but a strict rule during these times is a must."

"Yeah, I'm sorry it's been so rough for you guys." I rubbed the back of my head, the adrenaline leaving me. I just felt tired and sick, almost like something was lost. I was probably going to have nightmares tonight. Everything about this sucked, but I couldn't make it better. "Quick question, where are your hunting grounds? Is it possible you guys could drink animal blood?"

Mark shivered, "Animal blood is kind of gross, it tastes terrible. Which in turn causes us to vomit blood into them, thus making useful meat kind of inedible. We've been trying, but all of this happened less than a month ago. We're still adapting. If it tasted better then we could manage it, but it's kind of like an instinct. We're managing so far, but without easy water, and a wall for protection, we're very likely to struggle."

"Got it, I'll see if we can't figure something out. If anyone comes close to the wagons they will probably be killed. You got some things to do, but I will do everything I can to try and help."

Mark bowed, "Thank you very much, sir Richard. If we need your attention, is it okay to toss a pebble against your wagon?"

I nodded, before hopping in my seat behind Mimi. We were left alone, as I thought about what we could do. I could boil the water from the well, and separate the water vapor from the blood. Though that would only work for as long as we were here. I might be able to teach another alchemist, but if they didn't have one I was out of luck.

I scratched my chin, thinking about the wood. It should be easy enough. There were dying trees thanks to the tainted dirt, and someone had to know about how to cure them or make them how they needed. If they could explain the process, I might be able to do a slow burn and just make the wood how the other wood felt to my magic. It would take a long time, but it should give me a lot to focus on.

I sighed, knowing I needed to regrow my arms, but food was a bigger problem for now. Mark didn't mention it, so he probably had something planned. He didn't even tell me where the hunting grounds were, but I could deal with that later. Water and a wall first, then deal with the food shortage. Those were goals I could focus on, for now, Mimi's Hive could work on rebuilding the houses. "Mimi, let's go to bed," I whispered as she took me to the back wagon.

I woke up in a cold sweat, the nightmare already forgotten when I opened my eyes. Mimi was watching me, "Are you awake?"

I looked outside, seeing that it was pretty dark still. I couldn't go back to sleep and just nodded. "Go ahead and sleep." She closed her eyes, doing what I asked. I grabbed my ax, the back coated in explosive goo. It wasn't too late to cut down some trees. I stepped outside, seeing that it was kind of late at night. We had maybe four hours until morning came. I looked at Mimi's bugs, "Keep protecting the wagons." They marched once to show they understood.

I hopped off onto the cool dirt, some of the people outside and tending to a few repairs. I walked towards Mark, who turned to me with a smile. "Did you figure something out?"

"How many people do we have to do stuff? What is everyone doing now? Also, you didn't tell me where the hunting grounds were." I still felt tired, but it was better than trying to force myself to sleep. I didn't want to eat, not after killing those two. Not after what I saw before I went to sleep.

Mark bowed his head, "My sincerest apologies, I don't know where the hunting grounds are. Our hunters were killed or turned, so I'm sending a lot of our kind out to hunt something. When I say turned, I meant dragged by the Count's army and sent ahead to scout. We don't have any hunters, and I ask that you believe me on that. It's painful to admit, so let's drop this here in favor of the other conversation." He was suddenly a little flustered, or upset. Kind of hard to tell, but changing the topic did calm him down. "Like I said most of my kind is out exploring. A couple were sent to retrieve those that went to fetch water. I will explain the situation to them when they get back. I'm hoping the expedition has gone well. We kind of do need food."

I nodded, he's actively avoiding the word hunt right now. "I need numbers Mark, or at least the numbers of who's free to help me right now. Do you have any alchemists?"

He climbed up to the roof, "I got a bunch of kids doing laundry, with two widows tending to them. I should have four outside the town with water, that can help after they rest. Most are still recovering from blood loss, but I should have four men in reasonable shape to help you. As for vampires, I can keep track of time while you take four of them. I usually keep five of us around here for protection in case anything attacks. What do you have planned?"

"We're going to cut down trees and make some wood for the walls. Do you have anyone for that? After that, I'm going to try and purify water from the well with my alchemy."

Mark blew a whistle by using his fingers, as the people and vampires came together. He started explaining the situation and asking if anyone knew anything about woodwork. Sadly no one seemed to know anything, but we agreed the best thing to do was cut some trees down. At worst we'd just use the logs we made from them as walls. I managed to cut down two trees by using my ring of fire to burn them from the outside in. The vampires managed to cut one by themselves while the humans worked in pairs for the same result. I laughed to myself about being worth two vampires.

I didn't think they would try anything with Mark nearby, but I had Mimi come over to haul the trees back towards the town. They were pretty intimidated when she just gripped two trees with a grunt and hauled them like they were oversized branches. The vampires and humans worked together to try and drag one like she did, but all of us together couldn't manage it. We cut the one into pieces on the spot while Mimi just carried the rest back.

The sun was starting to come up when the vampires hid inside their homes. The group that went to get water were resting, as I told them what I wanted help with. People drew black water from the well, while others worked on the walls. I kept a burning fire close to me as I worked on separating black blood vapor from the water vapor. Technically doing any kind of experiment with black blood was illegal, but I just needed to get these people water so they could get their walls up. We'd find something more permanent in the future.

I made sure Mimi took care of her needs, between helping the others build their walls, and purifying water. We ate the slowly dwindling rations together, and I started to feel like one of them as the days started to pass. The vampires were getting better at hunting, but it still wasn't enough to keep Mimi fed. I was still burning away the black blood, and providing clean water, while Mimi was practically building the wall herself. She was just so much better at it, which left the people with time to rebuild their homes.

Four days in total came and went since we first came here. The houses were looking a lot better, and the wall was halfway done. I busied myself by purifying water, before noticing something was off. It wasn't like something new showed itself, but it was a lack of something. I looked around to try and figure out what it was, when I heard the back wagon marching. I quickly looked towards Mimi to find her slowly looking around. She stopped when she spotted me. Some of the people were looking between me and her, before quietly going back to work.

I swallowed hard as Mimi started walking towards me. "Oh, Richard~" She slowly stretched out my name, as I shivered. I stayed where I was, purifying water. I knew she wouldn't kill me, but it might be the last one this town got. Her wings were wrapped around her, as it looked more like a cape. It began to shimmer with different colors as she walked towards me. I could feel she was a bit upset, as she tried to puzzle just how long we'd been here. A quick flash of anger came when she probably used her bugs to check our rations. It certainly didn't help that I didn't go to her when she called my name, forcing her to walk to me.

She loomed over me, some of the anger melting away, as she saw me purifying water. I wasn't sure why, but I'll take it. "Welcome back, Mimi." I cautiously put out there. "It's been about nine days I think, since you went dim."

She took a soft breath, putting her hand on my shoulder. "Thank you for confirming it is following the Wil'Shern constant. The next one will likely take fifteen days to get through, but I am where I need to be for now. I see you've been busy." She gestured around with her free arm. A few people were watching. Others were watching the wagon shake lightly from her Hive marching inside it. Yeah, she was still upset.

I nodded quickly, "Yep, I've been pretty busy. Though you really helped out. I mean the wall was all you. The people here love you, Mimi. Just another four days and it probably would have been finished."

She gripped my shoulder a little harder, "How long have we been here exactly?"

I gulped, "Five days total? It was a crazy first day, and well the people were starving Mimi. I know you see the ten kids here. We can't leave yet, please, just give me until after the wall is built. I'll figure out how to get them to purify the well water themselves."

"Our food supplies won't last that long." Her tone brokered no argument, but I couldn't let this be for nothing.

"Mimi, please! I know you're mad, that you think we wasted time here, but these people will die without us!" I got up, still focusing on purifying just another bucket of water. Just one more to help them along.

She looked down at me, before kneeling so we were closer in height. "This isn't our responsibility. We can't save them while sacrificing ourselves." Her tone was softer than before, she was treating me like a child despite everything I did here.

A part of me knew she was right, that even if we left here with everything taken care of they still might not survive. All it took was one fiend to level a population this size, one offended wisp mother, one of any kind of powerful monster really. Then all of this would have been for nothing, but I couldn't let that happen while I was here. I had to give them the best shot, and she felt that emotion from me. I looked her in the eyes, taking deep breaths, I wouldn't back down here.

She wasn't giving an inch either, as I continued to purify water. She looked grabbed one of my hands, after a minute, before looking at my waist for the explosive. She saw the one I held there and smiled slightly while looking back at the steam behind me. "You're growing stronger."

I didn't back down, "I killed two vampires, and their names were Mike and Chuck. Mike had a daughter, and a loving wife before the army came and took it from him. He was left bitter, and cold. Chuck was a baker, that liked to sneak cake to the children of this town. He was impotent and never married. I think he wanted to die since he let my explosive hit his face. Three others died because they attacked me when the first night came. For their memory, I will do everything I can to make sure this town survives."