Gray, The Grand

The veil of shadows encased poor souls that rallied and advanced towards us. We plucked them away from each other, one at a time. The shadows were our domain, we could see while they were blinded. They were far braver than the cowards standing atop their crude walls, arrows drawn and ready. These poor men and women were consigned to death by fang or iron. Half of this force were unable to use magic, or their magic was restricted by some curse.

"FIRE!" One of the leaders shouted, arrows let loose to rain upon both sides. It reminded me of the special note that stated the people of the South were not too informed when it came to vampires. The monster manual even gave false information, ensuring our success on this first engagement.

My shades moved, using disposable soldiers as shields to take in the arrows. Others atop their barricade fell due to hitting a Vood'Mir in a vital place with their arrows. The undead did not care for such small wounds, while our living enemies were crippled with debilitating wounds if they were not outright dead. The runic arrows were not fired as those bowstrings snapped due to the fraying our bugs managed, a few explosions resounding as we continued our grim task.

Those too weak to fight back were dragged away by the pairs we could risk trusting. Our army needed thralls and ghouls to successfully win this engagement. We couldn't retreat to the Count's manor to feed everyone blood, so we had to make our own fountains. Weapons were dropped as our enemies felt their hope failing them. Surrounded on both sides, their despair begging for a painless death.

I moved towards the man that rallied those around him. Vampires were so much faster than humans, while our silent approach tickled an instinctual fear. Unseen predators moving among the shadows, while our veil could only handle one more volley. We had time as the foolish people with arrows struggled to reorganize. I reached out, taking the seer from the target. One of many acts played out in this opening scene.

How many loved ones were used as shields because they were disposable? How many arrows were driven by hand into a target? All of this to induce a certain set of thoughts, yet time was running short. The poor youth struggled in my hands, screaming out for his friend to save him. There was no pride to be taken in this, no glory to be found here. Even as I let the man named Spears cut into my arm, before vanishing once again.

The order was given to retreat as the second volley was fired. A beam of light cut into the veil, as shades carried the injured back behind the walls. Now was the time to watch and observe, to recover and prepare for the next scene. Even as the poor youth in my hands did their best to struggle free. So many men and women kicking and screaming as we monsters dragged them towards an unknown fate.

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Guy'Spears

Those damned shadows were receding, but so were those monsters. My hands were shaking, as I looked back over my shoulder. The Blue corps lined up a third volley. There was blood everywhere, too many of us laying on the ground dead from arrows. We really weren't people to them. We were just fodder.

"FIRE!" That bastard spoke the words again, those damned words that took Drummer's life. I couldn't see a single dead vampire, even as the arrows rushed overhead. They took Belts.

An arrow hit my shoulder from the front, as I gawked at our supposed comrades. More of us fell because a few blue boys skimped on bow training. I started laughing as some of the strings popped and I could hear the explosions. I thought the vampires had moved past us, but it was just their incompetence! I couldn't help it, I laughed even though my face was wet from who knows what.

My vision was blurred, as I cut the arrow's shaft from the head. We weren't going to be let back into safety, we were meant to die here. There was only one option, staying still meant we'd be shot dead. Movement was life, there was a chance. If nothing else, I had to get Belts from that creepy fucker. With the bows failing, everyone was going to inspect their equipment. Ropes and Bows were as good as hung if they weren't dead already. Examples had to be made.

"Come!" I wanted to say more, but I couldn't. My voice was cracking, I was choking up. I wanted to puke, to curl up and die. My insides felt twisted, my heart was in a knot. I didn't care. I couldn't care, the bodies would be burned and maybe the dead might get names. Did it matter? They were gone now, we might live just a little longer by invading first.

How many men were there when we started? I could maybe count to thirty, but there were twenty of us now. All I knew was that there had been a lot of us, probably more trapped between the vampires and blue boys than there were of the monsters. How many more were here? I was leading, running straight down the streets. The dark stone made it perfect for those monsters to hide. "If we stop we die!"

There were a few grunts from the others following me, all of us in a sorry state. I had no idea what I was doing, but with luck, it might look like the army was about to follow after us or something. Might spook the monsters, give us enough time to find something, anything. Weapons, we needed weapons! These daggers weren't going to help us, even if they cut into one of those freaks. My eyes widened, as I looked at my shoulder.

The arrowhead was still in there, but I used my dagger to cut the shaft off. The same one I cut that creepy fuck with. I pursed my lips, looking around while keeping my hand on the wound. There was a smithy, I'd have to deal with this later. I ran towards the smithy, kicking the door as hard as I could. Of course, it didn't work on the first try. "Defense." I barely managed to growl out.

They took a position, as I continued kicking. The door finally gave on the fifth. "Follow, grab, defend." Short orders, that I wasn't really in a position to give. Nobody seemed to care though, since they followed along anyway. Didn't really matter, I was a dead man anyway. Black blood had gotten in my wound. I was either going to become a vampire or die from the skull shakes.

An anvil sat with a layer of dust, as we moved into the forge. All the fancy, expensive, weapons were gone. Still, a spear was better than a dagger. Long narrow passages where we could stand shoulder to shoulder to defend ourselves. We still had daggers just in case the monsters got close. I grabbed the first two I saw, handing them to the closest two people and telling them to swap with whoever was defending the door. I was slowly calming down, my mind racing as I thought up plans.

I wasn't a strategist or whatever fancy word people used to describe someone making plans here and now. Common sense and instinct were the only things guiding my calls here. No one complained as they got a weapon and we were slowly coming to terms with what happened out there. I started to see the faces of those that followed me here, their jobs coming to me.

We were tired, thirsty, hungry, bruised, and battered. I grabbed one of the last spears with a sigh, we were lucky enough to get thirty of them from the rack. This building was made of stone, so it'd be hard for those monsters to get in. It was cold outside, snow was falling... I looked outside through the window and saw that there wasn't a single flake. Weird, but I wasn't going to ask questions.

"Greaves, Straps, Leather, you're with me. Everyone else get some sleep. We're taking shifts, if you can't sleep, help us board these windows up. We'll move after everyone gets some sleep." The three I called on groaned, but reluctantly agreed. The others scrambled to find a place to lay down so they could sleep.

Patches came over, "Sir, permission to stitch everyone up?"

I looked the crazy girl over, "Granted, but I'm not your superior. Just don't make it weird."

The big-nosed girl gave a toothy grin with some drool spilling from the corner of her mouth. She curtsied a little, giggling madly as she jumped on poor Straps. He squealed as she dug her clawed hands into the open wound and licked it. The sounds were unsettling, so we did our best to tune them out. Everyone was probably at the edge of going crazy, but doing our jobs probably might help.

My spear was dusty, just like the ones everyone else had. I kind of wanted to polish it, to do something familiar and take my mind off things for a while. Judging by the way everyone else was looking at their things, and Patches' 'fervor,' they felt the same way I did. Greaves started to doze off while still standing until I punched his shoulder. He gave me a glare, but nodded and did the same as I started to doze.

It hurt like a mule kick, making blood spurt out before Patches came over and did her job. I repressed the half-beast girl's methods as anyone else would. We just kept standing guard, even after Patches finished everyone off. Standing there, spears at the ready, punching each other in the shoulder whenever we dozed off. No idea how long we stood, as we kept going until Leather passed out despite getting hit. I walked to one of the sleeping guys and shook them awake.

After watching them take their positions, the four of us went to sleep on the stone floor. I thanked Patches from the bottom of my heart, as she had the presence of mind to stoke the coals. The room was warm and comfortable compared to the cold hallway leading to the forge. I almost missed the sleeping carriages that rocked us to sleep, even as everything went dark.

I woke up with a jolt, as Edge hammered one of the daggers. I was confused but woke up a bit more on the second strike. "What the fuck, Edge!?"

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The bald man with a smith's beard just grunted as he looked at me. He was older, probably in his forties, as he wiped some sweat from his brow.

Patches whimpered as she held her hands over her ears, the others groaning. They seemed rested enough, I felt bad, but it wasn't terrible. Edge struck a third time, making Greaves step forward and wrestle the hammer from the bastard. "How long have we been out?"

Wheels shrugged, "Can't tell time, looked out some windows and it's just dark. I'm not even sure if time is moving out there."

Rubbing my temples, I tried to soothe the headache before it formed. My shoulder was still stinging, but at least it wasn't bleeding any more. I'd need to check it out when no one was watching. Unless Patches said something to the others already. I did a quick headcount, figuring out that some of us were missing. "Where is everyone?"

Wheels pointed through the wall, "Out there, looking for water and sacks to carry such. I kind of thought you were dying since you weren't waking up. We all did." I got a few nods from the others, eight of us here, four standing guard though Tent was peeking in now and then.

Keeping secrets wasn't a good thing to do right now, not when we needed to trust each other. "I am dying, I think I got some black blood in me." Patches gave a sad nod at that, the others pursing their lips at my fate. "No idea how long I got, or what's going to happen. We need to find the others and get moving."

Wheels stood up, "What do you mean!? We're safe here, aren't we?" Edge decked Wheels to shut him up, though I felt he was just cranky he couldn't do his job.

I looked the man in his eyes, "We don't have water or rations. I don't know about you, but I'm starving." The others nodded at that, "We ran straight here, but we have no idea if the vampires are watching us. If the army catches us, we're dead anyway, so we need to move. If we find a good place to set up, we'll stay there and scout with it as our base. There's something that's been bothering me."

Wheels looked down, thinking over what I said, "It's the fact that we haven't seen anyone, right?"

"No shit," Tent helpfully replied. The two glared at each other.

"Tent, do your job and watch the door, please." I grabbed my spear, "There's too much dust in this smithy though. Fuck, it isn't even snowing in here. It's almost like we walked through one of those illusions or something."

Wheels nodded, "Seems like a stupidly big risk to just up and leave."

"If you have a better plan, I'm open to it. All I know is that the vampires didn't kill everyone they took. I don't know what the fuck is happening, but I'm a dead man walking. Before I die, I want to at least save a few of them. You're free to follow me, or you can stay here. We're stronger together, we can watch each other's backs. Besides," I smiled, "I know we don't have arrows to shoot each other in the back with."

The mood got heavy, as we all stared at the air in front of us. Edge grunted as he got up, "Going."

Patches whined, "The bad men will catch us, or the monsters will. The monsters might not kill us like them."

Wheels grit his teeth, nodding. "Yeah, fuck it. I'm not getting hung for dissertation or some stupid shit. Why are you the leader though?"

I shrugged, "I don't want to be the leader, I'm just doing what I can with what I have. All I want to do is sit down and polish these spears, to hope that someone will come along and help me. I don't think someone will come along, so I'm going to be that guy now. Fuck the lieutenant, fuck the army with their banners, they can get killed by the vampires or kill all the vampires they want. I'm tired of being ordered around, so I'm doing what I want. You can do whatever you want, but we need rules if we're working together."

Wheels grabbed his spear, "We should vote on a leader then."

Patches perked up, "I vote for master spears, I will serve him because he saved me."

"How?" I tilted my head towards her, confused.

Patches giggled, "You lead us away from the bad men."

Edge took his hammer back from Wheels, "Better." He pointed at me, before going ahead.

Wheels rolled his eyes, as the others slowly got up and said they'd follow. Finally, he just crossed his arms with a groan, "Fine, not like you'll be one for long." Thanks, buddy.

I really wanted to say it, but kept my mouth shut. Wheels was a notorious prick, but he wouldn't start shit when he knew there was nothing to get out of it. Everyone agreed to find the others that went out searching, then we'd find another smithy and start from there. Better weapons meant better defenses, we needed tools though. At least there was material all around we could use.

Back on the streets, I got to appreciate how dim it was. Stained glass windows in the fancy buildings, signs made of metal, everything positioned in a way to make the alleys just a bit darker. We could maybe see two buildings ahead of us (20 ft/ 6.1 meters). We heard glass shatter from a window and headed in that direction. Straps yelled, "Fuck! They're coming!"

Everyone gripped their spears, heading towards the sound. All twelve of us rushed to find Straps and three others desperately trying to fend off five vampires. They were pushed to the back of an alley, with the snarling monsters growling while they tried to smack away the spears. "Thralls..." One of the others behind me whispered.

What difference did it make? We had the element of surprise since the monsters were focused on Straps' group. I charged as quickly and quietly as I could, aiming for the back of one of them. My teeth showed, as my grin grew from impaling the pale bastard. The other two turned and flailed while the man screamed bloody murder.

I blinked, as my hands started to shake. Their mouths were torn open with the bottom part flapping on their chests. Their eyes were completely black, but I knew them. Drummer was screaming because I impaled him from behind! Gauntlets screamed and wailed as he flailed, trying to grab me and tear me apart. Reigns let out an unnatural groan as he tried to grab me as well. Then Wheels stabbed through Gauntlets just as he grabbed me.

"Why the fuck are you hesitating!?" He threw me back, and I landed on my ass.

"It's them!" I couldn't stop shaking, I stabbed Drummer! Fuck!

"Who!?" He looked back, stepping back, as the other two lunged for him. They barely grabbed him, when Straps and another impaled the other two. The unholy screams echoed through the alley. They weren't dead, they were still screaming, they were still moving. Even with a fucking spear run through them! The four that were trapped ran past us, leaving their spears. Fuck, I got up and grabbed Wheels before we started running. The spears slowed the four down as they tried to follow us.

We took turns, running through alleys, praying we didn't find any vampires or the others. Hadn't they suffered enough! Why were they screaming, why were they here!? Necromancers!? It had to be fucking necromancers! We stopped in one of the alleys, half of us dry heaving or vomiting bile. My throat burned, but I stabbed Drummer!

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?" Wheels screamed, not quite sure where to look. I couldn't say anything, as I desperately tried to hide my disgust.

Ink shifted uncomfortably, "Thralls." She muttered pitifully, one of the extremely lucky few to have a scholar take her in and teach her to read. At least her luck hadn't run out.

"A FUCKING WHAT!?" Wheels yelled again before Edge hammered him with a punch.

"Quiet!" He snarled.

I composed myself, doing my best not to puke again, "What's a thrall?" I looked right at Ink.

The mousy girl shrunk with all the attention on her. "Thralls are people who have their blood drank, then don't get turned into vampires. Vampire servants, like zombies."

Everyone took a deep breath at the same time, we all heard about zombies. We all knew they were a thing, just not in the kingdom of fire. We all knew about necromancers, everyone hated them. Vampires could just make zombies? No... that's why they took everyone. My blood turned to ice, as we had yet another reason to not get caught by those monsters. I swallowed my bile, looking at Ink again, "How do we deal with them? It's fucked up to leave them like this."

She whimpered a little, "Cut them to pieces and burn them to ash. I'm worried because the jaws were broken. That means the vampires are using them as an alarm system, they're meant to capture us so we can become one of them."

We all winced at the thought, knowing just how much worse things could get now. Then we heard others screaming. Everyone backed away, while I moved towards the alley entrance. The thralls had found the other group of four, who were desperately fighting. I started to move towards them when that creepy fucking vampire walked into the alley and tossed two of the people outside.

I couldn't look away as the thralls broke their limbs, the poor people still alive. Others crept closer to watch from our hiding spot, hoping, praying we weren't found. Everyone else went to the back of the alley to puke, while I just stood there frozen and forced to watch. My legs wouldn't move, as some kind of pressure was forcing me to stay exactly where I was. That creepy fuck dragging Ropes out into the open before pulling his mask back and taking a big bite.

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Gray, The Grand

Cruelty was an unfortunate necessity in this performance. The targets needed to be pushed to their utmost limits until the proper response was found. If they failed, then they'd have to witness these acts again and again. At the very least, I could dominate one of them and force them to watch. They needed to know fear, that such fear might turn to anger or despair.

It had been twelve hours since this largest group of targets entered the city. All ten of them, with the other half complete disposable. I sunk my teeth into the flesh of one such unfortunate soul. Their kicking and screaming form gave me no satisfaction as I drained them. The other two were mauled brutally, while the fourth sank to their knees in utter defeat. The fourth was a target, to be given to one of the Ston'Gar.

More than a few of the targets were meant to grow the numbers of those scarce vampires that had trouble increasing their double or even single digits of members. The shades were tending to their own members, while also directing the bugs to keep tabs on the movements of the army. If the cowards outside refused to come in within two days, the problems were supposed to be assassinated by the ghosts.

The more I learned of the kingdom of Fire's practices, the more it revulsed me in a way. A system that oppressed the potential of these poor souls. Plucking them from their lives and forcing them to die in a battle they were ill-prepared to fight. Brought here for the sake of greed, to feed the bottomless hunger of those 'nobles.' I started to understand what the Count meant, why he inverted the hierarchy of vampires to cast aside being compared to such things.

When my victim's mind flickered, I finally broke their jaw with my fingers. My strength had improved considerably thanks to the new evolution of my jitterbugs. The poor soul felt no pain, as I stung them through the heart and injected black blood to create another thrall. They were useless to me unless I desired to make teleporters. I had enough as it was, but they were extra bodies to throw at the enemies outside as a distraction.

I tossed the convulsing body away, not allowing a drop of blood to land on my suit. Appearances mattered and there was no point going any further. Another task was done, as another cyclops gained a thrall to guide. A single step towards the fourth had them soiling themselves before fainting. It weighed heavy on my heart, as it was far more efficient to just kill them. I hated doing these things, but I knew I must endure.

Dragging the poor youth away, while the thralls carried the crippled and screaming disposables, I released the man from my domination. Things were unfortunately going to become worse for their little group. At the very least, they had a few more hours to raid in peace, as the stores were stocked with supplies, the smithies with crude weapons, and so on. Wealth meant nothing to the Count that spent over a century preparing for this day. He and Charles both, it was all too clear when I gazed upon everything surrounding us.