My father and I landed on a leafless branch covered by a thin film of ice near the banks of the Itil River. We’d follow the water way down to the Khazar Sea. Although my knowledge of central Asian geography in the 9th century wasn’t the best, I couldn’t imagine the Khazar Sea being anything but the Caspian Sea. However, I didn’t know which river flowed into it so I couldn’t guess the modern name of the Itil River.

“Let’s relax here for a bit,” said my father as he submerged his body in the river. “I think this will be the perfect spot for you to complete your second trial.”

I stepped into the water. The current threatened to wash me away. I dug my feet into the sands and rocks below. “What is the next trial?” I crouched down into a ball, letting the small waves pass over my hair and wash away the dirt. When I resurfaced my father spoke.

“Follow me.” He transformed into a bat and took off. We flew for an hour till we found ourselves under a small conifer tree.

I noticed a pack of gray wolves a hundred metres away. They sat around a grand birch tree, their gray and white fur melded with the tree’s bark. “Do I have to hunt them?” I asked.

“Yes, although you cannot drink their blood, wolves aren’t very dissimilar from humans when it comes to their tendency to stay in groups. You will eventually have to face a group of armed men. These wolves will act as a stepping-stone and will let you understand how pack animals behave.”

Knowing my father, he didn’t care for my opinion nor a response. I flew off and landed on a branch above the pack. Now, puzzled as to how I would kill these wolves, I stayed still for a minute. At least humans carried weapons. Here I had nothing but my canines, branches, and gravity to kill seven wolves twice my size. Well, if I didn’t do anything I’d be stuck here forever. I locked my eyes on the biggest wolf, its fur, a deep gray, and legs larger than my torso. It sat next to another wolf and licked its head.

I flapped my wings and slowly descended onto the wolf’s back. It turned its head; however, it didn’t mind and went back to its previous action. That’s when I transformed into a human, wrapped my arms around its stomach and sunk my teeth into its jugular, my eyes locked on the other wolf’s smoky black eyes. The wolf I held jumped up, barked, and tried to bite my hands. Although I was sent flying my hands kept a good grip on the wolf’s fur and my canines remained firmly lodged in its neck. Its friend stood up and bared its fangs, however, due to the wolf’s surprise, it took a second for it to act. When its paws pressed deep into the frozen ground and its legs sprung towards me, I transformed back into a bat and flew up into the trees. The big wolf now had bite marks on its neck from which blood squirted out onto the snowy forest grounds.

Although vampires could suck the blood of animals other than humans, they couldn’t digest it. As such I spat the blood stored in my mouth, which splattered on the dying wolf’s head, tinting its dark gray fur a reflective black.

All the wolves stood up and barked at the trees, the rocks, the everything. Eventually, unable to locate me, they gathered around the large wolf, who now had its eyes half closed. After a few minutes, the semi-regular blood spurts stopped, and the wolf took its last breath.

It was time for round two. I flew down once again, wrapped my hands around the most isolated wolf’s stomach. And instead of sucking its blood I bit down on its jugular once, took out my fangs, and plunged my canines back into its neck. The wolves were quicker on the uptake this time. They jumped towards me with their fangs bared and their nails sharpened, so I flew into the skies. However, the damage had been done. Out of the wolf’s neck, four holes spurted blood to the drums of its heartbeat. The wolves barked and barked. Huffed and huffed, yet trees were stronger than stone bricks.

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Another wolf died; however, the pack did not mourn and ran away with all their strength. I followed close behind. Ten minutes later they stopped next to the river.

However, as they would soon find out. A wolf couldn’t outrun a vampire.

#

An hour later and a few kilometres down the river I sat on the last wolf’s body. Its fur tickled my skin, and its fat made for a good cushion. My father soon arrived.

“Although you took your time you completed your trial. Good job.”

Warmth spread from my chest to the ends of my feet. Yes, since the weather didn’t affect me, emotions were all too easily noticed.

“Thank you,” I said.

“Let’s sleep for a bit,” said my father. We found a nice sturdy branch under which to fall asleep.

#

We flew for another week until we stumbled upon a circular wall made of wood. It guarded a small village.

“Aidar, do you know what that is?”

“A human village.”

“I’m glad you remember, has it been two years since you last saw one?”

“I think three,” I answered. That was the first and last time I had seen one in this life. “Do I have to kill them?” I wondered if I could kill them. This was a village. The people living here had futures much greater than dying on the steppes.

“No, although you’ve killed stray refugees, they were tired, famished, and generally weak. When humans are in their homes, in their villages, or towns. Fed, sheltered, and protecting something greater than themselves you shouldn’t underestimate their strength.”

My words had been stolen. “So, what is the trial if not to kill them?” I asked.

“These humans are raiders. They pillage, kill, and rape their own. You are to follow them to understand the human way of life and how they themselves go about killing each other. This way you won’t be caught in their traps or overestimate your own abilities.”

My father had sure been direct; however, his instructions were still unclear. “How long do I need to follow them?”

“Four years.”

My mind went blank. “Four years.” I repeated.

“No, I’m joking,” said my father.

Yet he didn’t laugh, so my heart strained.

“In preparation for your trial I’ve gathered information on the various human groups. This one is a part of a larger human agglomeration who raid along rivers. They are currently going downstream and will most likely destroy all in their path until they reach the Kazakh sea. I will be waiting for you there. You are to learn how they fight, how they speak, and how they interact. This way you will be better suited to hunt them later.”

Sometimes I wished to simply say that I had reincarnated and that as a former human these trials were unnecessary. I already knew of human strength and cohesion. I wouldn’t do something so stupid as to hunt what might be Vikings. However, I didn’t know how a vampire would react to such information, and so, as to not have my neck punctured, I stayed quiet. Although, on another note. I wondered if my father wanted me to join these raiders as a human and not as a vampire since he said to learn how they fight and speak. “How closely must I follow them? Can I just fly a few metres above them?” I asked hoping the answer would be yes.

“No, you will fight with them,” answered my father. “The only condition is that they must see you’re human and bat form within a month and know that both are you. Of course, if you simply hide and reveal yourself to them a few days before arriving at the sea the vampiric fire will consume you.”

Now I was shaken. One, raiders wouldn’t even allow random humans to join their group, less so a vampire. Two, why wouldn’t they simply kill me? Third, how? And so, I asked my father yet another question. “How am I to join them? Especially when I can’t even communicate with them?”

“That is a good question. Remember what I taught you. Dreams are meant to be fulfilled, and fears are meant to be enhanced. Now, if you wish to join them should you use their fears or dreams?”

“Dreams,” I answered.

My father nodded. “Now would you like to guess what is every human’s dream?”

I didn’t answer, how could I answer such an existential question?

“That is to be special. Every human wishes to be special. Exploit this, remember, vampires are mythical beings to them. Simply by having us by their sides will they think of themselves as above others. That is all I can say. Do your best to survive, remember, I cannot assist you during a trial. Do your best.”

My father flew off into the sky and followed the river’s path. At least if I couldn’t finish my trial, I could always meet my father at the Khazar Sea. However, redoing this trial didn’t sound thrilling. Anyhow, it was time to become a raider. Thankfully, the words of my father helped me think up a plan.