They were watching their prey, almost completely invisible in the shadows. They were less then five feet away from the largest group of them. There were ten in this group the other four had gone in a different direction. They knew their master wanted them to kill the leader of the groups but they wanted to have some fun. It had been almost a millennia for two, five hundred years for one and two hundred years for the last of them since they had killed.

The oldest two knew their children were on this island, and that if they asked they would rise. They knew this but would never do it; they wanted to destroy these fiends as much as their master wanted them to be destroyed. They were abominations to the vampire race. Filled with demonic energy and controlled by a demon in a vampires body.

The group started to move, they had finished planning there attack on one of their enemies. As they ran off, the four ancient vampires each grabbed one from the back. They wanted to feed, to gain what little strength they could from these young creatures but they knew that to do so would contaminate them. They instead chose torture.

*****

He could feel his children’s joy at killing the four they had chosen and he smiled. He knew they would not fail him. They would kill the vampire who had recently become possessed and they would do it easily he knew.

He had other problems to worry about, not that he considered it a problem, but he would have some fun. He had watched the creature called Luke kill the two vampires easily. It was enjoyable to see such a creature in action. The way he moved reminded him of fighting a thousand years ago, the thrill of killing and knowing that no matter how hard your opponent tried they could not win.

He had followed him from the humans to where his children had been. He realized that this werewolf was hunting the fledgling vampires. He smiled thinking he might want to see if his eldest could stand up to the might of this fighter. He couldn’t tell by looking but from the strength and speed he guessed this man to be just shy of two thousand years old. He smiled thinking how fun it would be to fight some one like him to the death. To feel alive again, to fear being slain; but that was not why he had awoken. His only goal was to kill the abomination that had come to life on this island.

Romulus sighed, he knew that he should let his children kill the creature then return to rest but he couldn’t help but hope that the wolf would sense him. He decided he would follow him, watch him fight with his eldest and then do what needed to be done. There was nothing wrong with having a little fun he thought. And then suddenly Luke stopped.

*****

Luke knew he was being followed, he could sense someone following him. He decided he would speed up to see how fast his pursuer was. Going full speed, faster than any eye could see, he knew was not fast enough to escape. He decided then he would find a place where he would have the advantage. Luke knew it was not one of the demons follower vampires; it was to fast and too good at hiding its presence. He smiled thinking he had drawn the leader out. The cause of this countries problem, he found an opening in the forest that he decided was big enough to fight in and stopped in the middle of it.

Luke turned around and stared right at the vampire hiding in the forest. He knew that he had surprised it because it had gotten to the edge of the clearing before it retreated to darkness. “Come out beast, I will set my weapons down and kill you with my hands.”

“But then killing you would not be fun,” He spoke in Latin, but Luke being as old as he was knew the language well. “You seek to kill that which I have been commanded to kill. We should do it together wolf and not as enemies, I know you are old, fast and strong. Your kind do not need to sleep like mine do, you can live life after life without fearing boredom. I went to sleep over twelve hundred years ago when I was 1,548. I feel as if I could again walk with the living, I have slept enough that I am bored of it and wish to recreate the empire I had built ages ago.”

“I am guessing you are not the demon I seek; you are too old and strong to be possessed. I have no fight with you my friend, I am barely one third your age and I know it would be no contest for you to destroy me. I will not challenge you, even though a fight with someone of your age would be the most fun I could think of having. I know not your name or what rank you are vampire and I truly do not need to know. I will be on my way if that is what you wish, and with your word that you will kill the demon here I will leave. But the choice is up to you; though it would be a great pleasure to have a duel with you”

“One third my age, wolf you fight like an ancient, it would be my pleasure to have a contest with you. But alas as you can tell we have been surrounded. There are so many of them I do not think I could do it alone care to share in the killing of these pathetic creatures?” He was smiling; he had pulled two swords out of somewhere and held them in his hands. They were about two foot long blades; the hilts were covered in shining jewels of many different colors. Luke could tell they were made of steel.

Luke knew this vampire could kill the nine demon spawns surrounding them faster then he could kill five of them but it was a peace offering, one that said I consider you my equal and a friend. He could tell that as soon as they had killed the peeping toms that his new companion would want to duel him, to test the strength he had gained while sleeping. He smiled a true emotion of joy showing through. “My friend it would be my honor to battle alongside someone of your stature. Would you like to lead or should I?” Luke had drawn his two hand blades, clutching them so tightly his knuckles were going white.

“It would be my honor if you lead the killing; I must say though that I do not think you will kill as many as I. Care to make it a challenge? Whoever kills the larger amount gets to kill their leader; deal?”

“That is a great idea,” Luke said with a smile. “Your challenge has been accepted.” They bowed to each other and the killing began.

*****

Having lost four of their brothers sometime ago, the vampires had called back the five that went to kill the humans. They didn’t know what happened to them but they could smell their blood near the clearing.

The vampires had felt the presence of the ancient and Luke in the forest; they stopped just outside the clearing and waited for the perfect time to attack. They knew their prey had no idea that they were hidden so close. They kept talking in a strange language but never looked over or moved in a threatened way.

How wrong they truly were, the last thing they heard was “Lorem ipsom acceptatam,” Spoken by the werewolf, the two of them bowed to each other and disappeared. Then they felt the bite of their foes blades and heard the screams of their comrades dying.

*****

Luke went behind him to where one of the vampires was standing in the trees. He jumped straight up from below them and stabbed him under the chin with one of his hand blades; he knew it was dead instantly because he didn’t make a noise, except when he pulled the blades out, then there was a suction sound. He immediately went to his left where another was standing. The creature hadn’t even noticed its friends die. He got up right behind him put his blades up to its kidneys and whispered “boo,” before the vampire could react it had four blades in its back. It did scream out, he was glad because then more would come to him. He let go of his left blade and grabbed the creatures jaw; he pulled backwards, snapping its neck instantly.

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He looked over to see his new friend kill three of them in less than thirty seconds, they didn’t make a noise. They didn’t even see him before they were dead. His swords were cutting his opponents in half instantly, almost like they were supernaturally sharpened. He turned towards three of the vampires, they were charging at him from his right. I can’t loose, he thought to himself, I will not loose.

He sheathed his hand blades and pulled one of his two great swords. Gripping it in both hands he charged straight for them. Slicing diagonally from right to left he cut one of them from the shoulder to the hip. Luke used his momentum to complete a full spin and strike at the last opponent; he would have hit him had he not jumped up at the last second. He twisted his hands stopping the blade in mid swing. He twisted it up catching the last one in the right leg, cutting it off. As he twisted around to finish his kill he noticed his new friend coming in from behind. He put all his strength into striking first. Romulus’s blade entered the back of the vampires head at the same time Luke’s sword struck its spine.

The body blew apart, blood and organs flying through the air, Luke was covered in it. He usually hated getting body fluid on him but this had been a challenge he didn’t have time to kill cleanly.

“I would call that a draw.” Luke said as they landed on the ground. “You are the fastest vampire I have ever seen; you waste no energy and actually use weapons.”

“And you my new friend fight with the strength of someone far exceeding your age, I can tell you’re young. Tell me how are you that strong yet so young? You killed three of them by yourself with such speed and precision, i could tell they were newly made but given the strength of an elder, they should have been able to overwhelm you.”

“I was betrayed at a young age and decided I would train my body until it was as close to perfection as possible. That was over eight hundred years ago, I also fought anyone and everyone who would stand against me, or just for fun. I still train daily to perfect any mistakes I make in battle. My name is Lucretius Lacedaemon; after my father Cleomenes III, and mother Agiatis’s birth place. It is an honor to have fought beside you.” Luke said this as he bowed, which was a formal introduction to someone of such strength.

“A Spartan of royal blood, how could I not of known from the beginning, the smell is unmistakable. That explains the strength and speeds of one at such a young age; don’t get me wrong the training you have undertaken has made your skills perfect but the blood flowing through you: that your parents passed on is pure ancient werewolf blood. It is an honor to be in the presence of a werewolf that many would call a god. How is your father, the last truly great man of Sparta?”

“He still lives and thrives with my mother and fifteen siblings as a clan leader.” Luke had anger in his eyes; he cared nothing for his blood relatives.

“I can tell by your voice the betrayal was by your father, I apologize for his mistake young lord. My name is Romulus, Romulus of Rome.” He bowed as well. “So what do you think Lucretius, how do we handle a draw?”

“As you are my elder and the founder of an empire I give the win to you.” Luke said with a smile. “It would be wrong for someone who has conquered no lands and won no wars to try and take a win from a true warrior.”

“There is no fun in that, I say we fight for it, but not to the death; we have others to kill, a challenge of blades lets call it. Your two great swords against my two Gladius’s, it should be a great test for the both of us. Two titans clashing, a true test of strength, do you accept?” He began twirling his blades in anticipation. They were moving so fast they looked to be circles of metal.

“How could I say no to a fight with someone such as yourself, I accept your offer. First draw of blood wins? It is almost unfair, me having custom weapons and you getting stuck with ancient swords, though they are beautiful.”

“You may have made yours to fit you perfectly but I trained my body to make these the perfect weapons for me. Begin on three?”

“Seems fair to me, hope you don’t mind loosing though.” Luke said with a smirk as he stepped back and readied his swords.

“Unus …. Duo … Tribus…” They spoke at the same time; with smiles on their faces. Time seemed to stop as they began moving at speeds lighting couldn’t keep up with. The forest shook with the clashing of their swords.

*****

“Our master kills, I can feel his enjoyment.” It was one of the four brought back with Romulus.

“I don’t believe he is enjoying the killing as much as he is the duel he is about to have.” He turned back around facing the other three; they were his brothers, created by the same master yet so different in age. He was the oldest, the one Romulus created first; he could feel his master and his brothers better than they could feel him. “I felt the wolf when we awoke, he must be challenging him”

“His strength radiates to us from here. Our master would want to test himself; he has been asleep for so long his power has grown exponentially. He found someone he believed could test him, though why a wolf I do not know.” He was the youngest; he had lived in a time when vampires and wolves fought to the death for no other reason then to just kill one another. He thought he recognized the aura from the wolf but he couldn’t be sure. “I say we watch. The demon here is no threat to any of us, and I could use some enjoyment.”

“I agree; they are just speaking now we can make it in time to watch them fight. Maybe find a human on the way to feast on during the show.”

“Then we better grab a few, our master will be hungry.”

They all smiled to each other and ran towards the clearing where they felt their master.

*****

He felt when the last of his creations was slain, it was not only the presence of them being wiped up but he felt a disappointment that they had failed. He thought he felt something strong roaming the island but he passed it off as a problem with his host body. He now knew it must have been an old strong vampire.

“I must find the tomb of one stronger than this new creature and take its power unto myself.” He spoke this as he walked out of his cave.

He let the vampire presence he had been subduing inside of him out more so he could sense the presence of creatures stronger then it. It took him awhile to find something because they were not awake. He felt the strong one and its four minions instantly but knew they were to strong to drain while awake.

As he found what he was looking for he realized he could not only empower himself but bring more like him into those asleep. He berated himself for not doing this in the first place, why make more vampires when he could use older vampires to create more demons like himself. He rushed off towards the first one he felt.

As he entered the crypt he felt that this was not just the tomb of one vampire but of many, he wasn’t sure how many but it was at least twenty. He realized it must have been a chamber of masters and fledglings going down many centuries. He found what he felt to be the oldest of the vampires and after taking the rocks and dirt off of him he bite into the creatures neck. He felt the rush of pure power going into him. It was almost twice as much power as the original host had when he possessed him. His body felt as if it would explode. When he couldn’t handle anymore he stopped feeding and ripped the head off of the elder.

His head began to swim and his legs became weak, it was pure bliss. The feeling of the power swarming through his body almost made him pass out. After a few minutes of the feeling it began to fade. He had to control himself to not feed on the rest of the vampires in rest. He went one by one unburying them and forcing his blood down their throats.

There was twenty eight of the vampires in this tomb. Each of them were stronger than the original form he possessed. They lay on the ground with their eyes open, unable to move or strike the one they knew to have killed the master of the tomb.

The demon went to the opening of the crypt and began to chant in a deep unknown tongue, he chanted for almost a minute and then cut his wrist and flung blood into the tomb. The air seemed to freeze. The temperature dropped to below freezing instantly. The vampires knew then that they would never be themselves again. They had heard of such rituals to let a demon into yourself to double your power and control other vampires who drank of your blood. They also knew that ritual was used to control enemy vampires by putting stronger demons into them that would dominate their mind and become the vampire.

They vampires all felt a presence enter them at the same time. They all fought the intruder to keep control, but knew because the blood was forced on them, that the inner fight was futile. The demon in vampire form crawled out of the small entrance to the tomb and waited outside for his new brothers. He hadn’t called any demons of strength more than his own but he knew as a group they would want to feed as soon as they were able. He was glad he had taken the energy from the oldest of the group so he could control the demons he had just made.

They started coming out of the cave one at a time and began standing behind him. After they all were gathered he spoke. “I have brought you here to help me concur this world of the living. You all know that I was brought here for the task of bringing this part of the earth into darkness to make more of us. I feel without your help I will fail then our master will be forced to change or stop his plans all together. I couldn’t let that happen. Will you follow me into the upcoming battle? Will you lend me your strength and dominate this portion of the world?”

The demons looked around to each other. They could feel the one that called them, he was much stronger than any one of them but combined they could kill him. It was there nature to not work together. That was why only ten of the demons were called into this world before. So they could each claim their own part of the world.

The strongest of the newly born demons spoke, “We will follow you Honos, for now.” Honos was not the demons real name but that was what he was most recently called by the romans who worshiped him.

“Thank you Hercules, I know you are all the same class as I, but I want to destroy this world and I believe as a group we will be more successful, and Mars will not destroy me for disobeying him if we work together.”

“I agree, the last thing any of us want to do is defy Mars or one of the others. What do you ask of us?” the rest of the group nodded as Hercules spoke.

“All I ask is that you help me kill the threats to me in this area. I am not sure how many there are but I know I cannot do it alone. If you help me with this I know Mars will let you stay on this plain.”

“We are with you Honos, let us begin the slaughter so we can concur our own portions of earth.” It was a female vampire speaking, Honos knew her to be Voluptas, and know to turn her back on others when she saw things were not going her way.

“Then let us begin, follow me my brothers and sisters. Let us bask in the glory of battle again as we once did ages ago.”

With that the group of twenty nine demon possessed vampires began running, following Honos to the clearing where he felt the two strongest energies, and from what he could tell, where the other four were gathering.

He smiled as he thought how easy it was to get these others to follow him. He had expected to have to kill a few of them to let rest know he was in charge. He wondered what Hercules was playing at but decided he would find out after the killing. This was his world now, with his summoned followers no one could stand against him.