Vampire
Khalil walked at the rear of their group as they made their way across the plains, his mind occupied by many difficult thoughts.
He cast his gaze at Marianna as she led them forward, then to the new group just behind her. Jason, Diana, Mark and Matt, were from the U.S. though from what they could figure out their land had been shifted to the middle of Africa, the people they encountered outside of their small town said that they were in Congo.
That they’d managed to survive was an achievement that he could respect. He’d heard stories of what happened during the first month in Constantinople, the sheer number of people that died, even with all the advantages that Constantinople had.
The Vampires, the Knights, but perhaps more importantly the beasts. The city had a massive population of stray cats, and when the world changed, they changed too. Source infused them, some mutated and grew larger, others changed in different ways. But few of them turned really feral. The cats had been part of the city’s life and culture for centuries. They were used to people, they were fed by them, lived on their streets. When the beasts spilled out of the rifts, the people didn’t fight alone. Many people, Khalil had learned, had gotten Masks related to rearing pets or combat animals.
But, even with all of that, Khalil knew that it was the vampires that had turned the tide. They’d broken through the hordes and closed the most powerful rifts.
Vampires. He still couldn’t quite believe that his order was working with them, but the end of the world made strange allies. The city was now run by a council, with the various city officials sitting in alongside vampires, bishops, allamah, fāris of the Followers of Furūsiyya, and knights of the Order of the Dragon.
It was a strange reality, and one that Khalil had found himself in the thick of. As the city’s only Exemplar, he had been relied on by the leaders for more than just information. He was one of the highest Investment people in the city, and likewise in the world. The older vampires advanced their Masks slowly apparently, as most of their Masks were related to crafts that they had once practiced and that were no longer relevant or easy to accomplish. It was a small mercy. He shuddered to think what would’ve happened if they gained Investment as fast as Marianna did.
The only reason why the balance of the city worked as it did, was because the Knights had gained Investment at a faster rate, they might not be able to match an Adult or Elder Vampire one on one, especially now that daylight was no longer the weapon it once was against them, but there were more of them.
He looked back at Marianna and the four that kept casting glances at her back. Did she realize just how terrifying she was? It didn’t seem so to Khalil, and she terrified him too. More perhaps than others, because at times he could see glimpses of the old her, the woman that he had met in America at school. The kind and shy girl that was quirky and funny, who was his friend.
Now, she spoke with that barely above a whisper tone that the vampires used, as if she constantly had to remind herself to speak louder so that the humans could hear. Her head moved every now and then, when she heard something that none of the rest of us could.
Now she sat perfectly still, unmoving and unchanging, only a rare inhale of air betrayed the fact that she wasn’t a statue. She moved silently, her every step taken with such care and grace that she seemed to almost glide across the ground weighing less than air. Yet, when she fought it was clear that she weighed at least twice as much as he did.
Then there were her eyes, two small orbs of emerald, like the reflections of the calm sea. There was no sign of a pupil or an iris, just two emerald mirrors surrounded by white. The eyes of an Elder Vampire. Khalil still couldn’t quite believe it. When he had seen her in this place, when he had convinced himself that it was her, her eyes had been those of an Adult Vampire. Her explanation, that her Mask had advanced her vampire condition had seemed ludicrous.
Yet, she went from Adult to Elder in mere days. Khalil had no idea how that was possible. And… he was certain that she was hiding things from him, but then again, he was hiding things from her too.
The moment the challenge had been announced, the Council of Constantinople had started debating whether to send him in or not. It was an opportunity to learn about the state of the world from others. But the moment he had mentioned that the name Marianna was familiar to him, that it could be someone he knew, the choice was made.
Especially since she was at the top of the rankings and had a strange addition to her name. He still hadn’t pressed her about it, she had simply said that she had gained that on Ish Vimza, the continent where she had been sent as an Exemplar.
The leaders of Constantinople were interested in everything about advancing Masks, and Khalil’s job was to learn as much as he could about it, and how to best gain Investment.
As far as that mission was concerned, he’d already accomplished it. Marianna had shared freely what her mentor from Ish Vimza had taught her, how different types of Investment worked, and in far more detail than what the elves had taught Khalil on Elvaros.
Now, he was in this strange place, unsure of what to even do. What Marianna had said was right, they had to push harder than they had so far. To gain more Investment and more points, to try and win this challenge. The others were shortsighted, this wasn’t just a rush for personal power, this was about the survival of our entire civilization, humans, vampires, and shifters alike.
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Working with a vampire was not something that he had expected that he would’ve even willingly done, not after what he had seen happen on Elvaros. The callous murderous rage that the vampire there had unleashed.
The sight of him never seemed to leave Khalil’s dreams, the ghastly monstrous face, thin skin and wide fleshy wings. What he had seen was everything that his order had taught him the vampires truly were deep down inside.
When he had reported what he had witnessed to his order he had been allowed in the inner circle, allowed access to information that wasn’t widely known. He had learned what before being summoned as the Exemplar he had only believed to be a rumor, a fairytale. That the oldest and most powerful of vampire kind could transform into those hideous monsters.
Only twice had the Order encountered vampires that old, the first one happened a long time ago, in the 1453 and the last siege of the city by the Ottoman Empire. The counterattack by the Byzantine vampire was the reason why the Ottoman Empire didn’t push over the strait, and why Constantinople was both Christian and Muslim city today.
The vampire had decimated the army but died when the Ottoman army managed to trap him in the Bosporus under a sunken ship, ensuring that he couldn’t move until he drowned.
At least the records believe that the vampire died, as he didn’t resurface again. For the longest time, they had believed the vampire to have been one of the originals, the creators of the vampire kind.
It was only later, in the 1600s, that they encountered another who could transform into the same form. The only reason they were certain that it wasn’t the same vampire as the one that was seen in Constantinople was because this vampire was a woman.
Now they knew that there was a stage after the Elder Vampire, the one that they called Ancient Vampire. It was a title that was in use by the vampires too, and the order believed that they had started using it simply to muddy the waters. And yet, perhaps they were just hiding the truth in plain sight. Who knew with their kind.
Khalil looked at Marianna and tried to imagine what she would look like when transformed into such a monstrous form. A part of him worried that this was all a trick, a trap for some nefarious purpose. That Marianna had lied to him, that she wasn’t as young as she claimed to be. And the more time passed, the more worried Khalil became. The speed at which her strength grew was too much.
He didn’t know why she would trick him so, but if she was not in fact young, but actually an Ancient Vampire capable of shifting her body into that monstrous form, then… What was the color of her eyes compared to that? They knew so little about vampires that old, for all he knew they could alter their appearance at will, appear to be whoever they wished, even human.
Perhaps she had always been a vampire, even when they met so long ago.
He shook his head, pushing those thoughts and fears far away from his mind. He couldn’t allow fear to rule him. He would judge her based on her actions, and nothing he had seen now or before had given him cause to doubt. To condemn another with no cause would tarnish his soul under God’s grace.
They drew closer to their destination, and soon they found a stone shrine with the altar within, the same as the last trial they had encountered.
The group spread around it, making sure that there was no one else around, though Marianna’s little dragon—another thing that he was completely baffled about—had already scouted ahead.
Khalil walked up to stand next to Marianna as she looked down at the plaque.
Trial of the Forest—Gathering Point Seven
Join in the Trial of the Forest! Touch the scepter to reserve a spot. Up to three individuals can register at a single Gathering Point.
18/21 spots taken.
“Three people?” Khalil asked.
Marianna nodded. “Yeah, and it looks like we made it just in time. We’ll need to choose who goes quickly.”
“You, obviously,” Khalil started, the trials were already dangerous enough, sending anyone other than their strongest would be stupid. “It seems like it is taking place in a forest. That might influence who we choose.”
Marianna glanced back at the others as they approached. Aurora leaned over her shoulder and took a look. “Only three?” She repeated Khalil’s question.
“Me and Khalil should go,” Marianna said, surprising him.
“Why me?” He asked.
“You can heal,” Marianna simply said.
Truthfully, his healing wasn’t any good, it accelerated the natural healing process, and not very well. Though, it did help.
“We have your new ring,” Khalil countered. “It’s better than anything my skill can do.”
Marianna waved her hand. “You’re also good with your sword and shield.”
“Jiyun is the best of us with the sword, not counting you at least.”
Marianna glanced at the Korean woman and her brother.
“What do you think?”
Jiyun was the one that answered. “You should take one spot, obviously. The rest depends. If we knew more about the trial, it would make this far easier,” she shook her head and looked at the others. “Aurora is situationally very powerful. Her ability to sense stone at a distance could be useful.”
“It is called the Trial of the Forest,” Marianna pointed out. “If we are dropped into a real forest, it will mean less stone in the ground, she won’t be able to use her stone spikes as much as she’d like.”
“Hey!” Aurora protested. “I can still shake the ground and open cracks in it! And you are underestimating just how much stone there is in the soil.”
Marianna grinned at her antics, showing her fangs. If they hadn’t spent so much time together since coming here, that would’ve been a far more threatening expression than what Marianna meant it as.
“I’ll stay.”
Khalil turned to look at Daehyun who had a determined expression on his face.
“We should talk about it, brother,” his sister, Jiyun said.
“There isn’t much to talk about, you are better than me with the sword, and besides, we aren’t just making a decision on who goes but also who stays.”
He glanced behind to the four newcomers who were setting up camp. Khalil grimaced as he realized what he meant.
“He’s right, two of us will need to stay with them, and… I want to believe in the good of the people, but we don’t know them.”
Marianna tilted her head. “So, what do you suggest?”
Khalil looked back at her. “You should go because you’re the strongest of us, Jiyun because she’s second strongest, and Aurora because, frankly, I don’t trust her without you around to keep her in check.”
“Hey!” Aurora complained.
“Anyways,” Khalil ignored her. “Daehyun and I will stay and get to know the other group, maybe clear a few rifts in the area while we wait for you.”
The four newcomers would stick around for a little while more, as they had agreed to show them the locations of one other trial, the one that starts in six days.
Marianna looked at the others and saw that the decision was hers to make. Finally, she sighed and agreed.