The Making of Vampires Ch. 06

Dear Readers, please note that there is a death in this chapter. It is necessary to set up a future chapter.

Thank you Two4friends for editing this chapter.

The Hoarding

Uruku stood on the edge of the clearing. He could not yet see the three dots in the night sky that indicated trouble, but he felt their presence. They announced the coming of the Hoarding, a time of werewolf chaos and insanity. Only supernatural creatures could see those three stars, because those stars were born of magic. The timing of their arrival was unpredictable, magic influencing their speed at random intervals.

Uruku lived through seven different Hoardings, all of them terrible and nightmarish. During the Hoarding, those humans that lived through an attack turned into deranged werewolves.

Often history reported the Hoarding as famine, pestilence, or war. Those were simple ways to explain the depopulation of humans in various regions. Sometimes, the Hoarding actually coincided with real events. Other times, magic influenced human minds helping them to forget the trauma and remembering events in ways that didn't include the supernatural beings.

The Hoarding would be far away, centuries away. They had plenty of time to decide if they wished to battle the werewolves driven mad by the stars or if they wished to hide deep underground in a meditative sleep until the Hoarding had passed.

***

Three hundred years passed. The vampires had decided to fight the werewolves fearing an extended hibernation would allow the were creatures to conquer the world or kill the vampires in their deep slumber.

The vampires had repopulated their numbers. Martinelli, now known as Martin, recruited the bravest and noblest of men to forfeit their souls accepting damnation in order to protect humanity. For it was only one of the noble brave who would accept damnation for the sake of others', a thankless and condemning task. Most other men, driven by greed or self-importance, would easily fall prey to the dark desires of their inner demons and Martin did not want them among his ranks.

Gabriel searched out those gifted in the magical arts recruiting those for the greater good. He was not as successful as Martin, but his numbers grew, as well. People gifted in the magical arts had tasted power. That power often spurned the growth of altruistic behavior. Many touched by the power of magic sought ways to fulfill their inner desires. They cared little for others or humanity in general.

August discovering the focus of the next Hoarding with maps, charts, and magic, established a small kingdom at the epicenter. In the rugged lands, there were no real leaders. Most being thugs and bullies using intimidation and violence to establish their claims. The vampires were not easily intimidated and had no fear of violence.

As time passed a tradition developed among the people where they showed great pride in associating with places, origins, or family lineage. Many people chose surnames to help identify them with specific lands, cultures, or relatives. They took great pride when sharing their surnames.

Martin was not such a person. He found the surnames pretentious as if having an ancestor of great importance passed that importance down to his descendants. He wondered how some man could claim glory from his great grandfather's heroics in a battle. He found one's claim to a land as giving that person any importance as laughable, as well. He would never believe that anyone descended from the thugs could claim importance through stolen land.

He respected one's claim to a culture only if that person practiced the revered traditions of such culture. Otherwise, Martin believed those people hypocrites claiming honor from traditions they no longer practiced, believed in, or even knew. Because of all those reasons, Martin wanted their surname to be the Morsus. Morsus was Latin for bite or bitten. He found it humorous and honest not fearing that anyone would discover that they were vampires. They were among uneducated people who didn't study Latin.

In actuality, most of the vampires didn't study Latin or any language. A long time ago, Gabriel created a spell to make them understand and speak the language of the lands they traveled through so they could communicate easily. To the vampires, there was no need to study languages when magic made communication so convenient.

Suwon, their newest member and Marcus' wife, found a niche in the serious group of vampires. She was playful, joking around and pulling pranks on the other vampires to alleviate their trouble minds. Her antics were often welcomed, especially now, as the time of the Hoarding grew near.

Uruku and Martin spent a great deal of time with maps discussing tactics in the war room. Often, other vampires sat quietly listening to the battle plans and developing an understanding of the war to come. Death was coming to many.

Uruku feared for those in this clan of vampires who he loved as much as his own sons, who had both perished. His eldest son died at the hands of those Uruku believed to be other vampires, for his death was quick and he had been unable to send a message to his father or anyone else. Uruku felt his son's light dim in his mind and with great sorrow understood that his eldest had died. Uruku's second son had lost his wife. Due to his grief, he chose to end his time on this earth rather than live without her. He had touched his father's mind to say his good-byes. Then his light faded out of his father's mind, as well.

Uruku mourned each son's passing making this band of optimistic vampires more important to him. They had a goal to help humanity. They asked for his guidance and they asked him to preside over the crimes of their fellow vampires. He became their advisor and their judge. This group of vampires had truly become his community and his family.

***

Martin ate in the Great Hall with the other vampires. Humans from the local village worked for the King and his men. Therefore, the vampires pretended to be human, eating food, but secretly hunted for human blood when they needed to do so.

A manservant strolled in to whisper to the king, "My Lord, villagers from Greenshire wish to speak to you. They fear monsters in the woods hunting their livestock."

Many months ago, Martin spread rumors of monsters in the kingdom. He had his men go to each village and share tales of monsters that matched the description of werewolves. Then he even had some of his men wander the woods and leave signs that a werewolf would leave to prepare the people for the dangers to come.

Therefore, they never ignored claims of monsters. They would rather encourage people's imaginations than make the mad werewolves' hoarding attempts easier. Martin and his men pretended not to have heard the servant and waited for August to announce the arrival of the villagers.

August stood. "Men, monsters have been sighted. There are people from one of the villages outside ready to give us a report. Come. Let us here them."

The vampires filed out of the castle stepping into the center of a small group of villagers. There were almost a dozen adults, some clutching at children while others paced. All turned their attention to the king and his men as they passed through the castle's open wooden doors. There rose a cacophony of voices. August raised one hand silencing the humans.

He spotted Aaron, the levelheaded leader of the village and asked, "Please, Aaron, tell us what troubles your people."

Aaron rubbed his chin. "In the dim light of this morning, I saw something running from my yard toward the trees. Nothing was amiss, but when I traveled to the village storehouse, others shared tales of a monster that has been stealing food from their farms. A few days ago, one of the outlying houses caught fire when no one was around. They believed a monster set it."

August, a grim look on his face, turned to Martin. "Brother, please take some men to the village of Greenshire and search for the monster."

Martin nodded. Nothing of the events sounded like werewolves. It did sound like the villagers had thieves and he would not allow hard working people to lose their food to bandits.

Martin noticed one small girl standing away from the others looking concerned. She shook her head slightly as if disagreeing with Aaron. Martin wanted to speak with her alone.

Martin sent a mental message, a gift the band had developed, to his brother. August, take the villagers inside for some food. I want to get the little girl alone to ask her some questions.

August said loudly, "Please, come in and sup. You need food for I will not allow you to leave hungry after bravely traveling to find aid for your village."

With the mention of food, the villagers quickly forgot their worries and followed the king inside. They, also, quickly forgot about the little girl with curly blond locks and bright blue eyes standing in a dirty, road-traveled dress.

Martin approached her slowly fearing to intimidate the child. Her cheeks reddened. She looked fearfully to the door where her family had passed, but there stood two big guards looking as scary as the man in front of her did.

Martin knelt down on one knee and pulled some dried venison from a pouch on his belt. "Here, eat some of this and then I can take you to your family." The hungry girl reached out with a shaky hand taking the meat and quickly bit into it and Martin said, "Sweetheart, I think you know a little more than Aaron does. I would like you to tell me so I could better protect you and your village."

The girl stopped chewing and wouldn't look at him. She used her bare toes to draw a circle in the dirt.

Martin continued, "I sure would hate to end up killing the wrong person fearing him to be a monster or letting a monster go that would kill your family."

It was when her tears fell that he regretted his words and he froze. She didn't talk, sob, or sniffle. She just stood there as big tears painted muddy tracks down her face. He didn't know what to do with the crying girl.

Suwon approached, keeping the smile from her lips. The look on Martin's face couldn't have shown more dread had he just killed the imaginary fairies that brought gifts to the village children during the winter solstice.

She bent at her waist, her hair falling like a curtain past her shoulders, and said with a soft voice, "I bet you know lots of secrets. If I tell you a secret, will you tell me one?"

The girl looked as Suwon not saying a word as more tears flooded her cheeks.

Suwon pointed to Marcus standing by the water well. "He is my husband and when he kisses me, it tickles my stomach so much that I fear fairies are fighting a battle in my tummy." Then she winked at the girl.

The little girl looked at Marcus who suddenly didn't want to look anywhere except at his feet. He was a little embarrassed his wife would share such a thing within earshot of other vampires, let alone directly to a child. She had never revealed that bit of information to him. Yet, a part of him enjoyed knowing that he affected his wife in such a manner.

The little girl started laughing to Marcus' chagrin. "He acts shy, like my brother."

Marcus heard the chuckles of the other vampires and kept looking down at his feet as a little girl, with too much clarity for her age, judged him.

Suwon smiled and asked, "Does your brother kiss girls, too?"

The girl shook her head. "He is too scared. He only..." She quieted and looked away.

Suwon gasped as if excited. "Oh, that can be the secret that you tell me. I won't tell anyone. It is only fair. I told you my secret."

The little girl stared at Suwon a little and when her mouth opened, it was as if a dam had broken and the child couldn't stop the words from flowing out. "My brother watches girls at night through their windows or cracks in the walls. He watches them bathe in the streams and sometimes he takes jugs of cider or food from their family's larder to eat later. He didn't mean to, but he tipped a log out of the fire at the Darning's home setting it on fire." Then the little cried loudly with huge racking sobs as the weight of her secret left her shoulders.

Suwon picked the girl up and hugged her. "Shh. I'll keep your secret. Is your brother with you now?"

The girl shook her head. "Dad and Ma left him at the farm to do the chores."

Suwon nodded, "You don't have to worry any longer. Come. Let's find your family." She walked into the castle carrying the girl.

Martin pondered the possible danger that lurked around Greenshire. He hoped the monster of Greenshire was a hormonally charged, but harmless boy. The steeling of food concerned him though. Villagers would never tolerate someone stealing it from their families. Martin wished that one of his gifts could help him tame an adolescent boy.

Through the years, each vampire gained abilities. Martin had gained many. Martin appreciated his gifts and used them most during battles. He learned how to speak to each of their vampires through a mind link to better organize and implement attacks. He learned to move objects with his mind and he even learned to take over another's body, human or vampire.

Strangely, even though he could control a person's body, he was unable to influence a person's mind. He could not make them forget feeding encounters and he could not compel a human to come to him in the darkened forest. He could not influence their minds in any way. Therefore, when he went hunting for blood, Martin had to go with someone who could make the human forget the feeding, which was any other vampire.

Suwon walked up to Marcus kissing his cheek. Before he said anything, she took his hand in hers guiding him to Martin. "Well, do we go out and catch a shy boy?"

Martin nodded. "We have to, but I don't want to assume that he is only a boy. That could get some of us killed if that boy turns out to be a werewolf. Uruku expects the Hoarding to start any day now and peak in a few months during the winter solstice. Gather your weapons and supplies. We need to go."

***

Martin rode at the head of the group of twenty. Ten in the group were fighters, including Marcus and Suwon. Ten in the group were mages, including Gabriel and Sophia. They expected to arrive at Greenshire very soon and night had fallen.

He scanned the area as they rode knowing others behind him also checked for danger. It was prudent that many searched for hidden danger. So far, the only things hidden in the forests were animals, nothing preternatural shadowed their travels.

The sooty smoke of fires cooking food and warming homes drifted on the wind, as did the smell of domesticated animals. Then the strong odor of fear reached the vampires. They turned to the woods to their right, the direction of that fear.

They stopped their horses and dismounted. Martin drew his sword, the ring of metal swallowed by the trees. Others followed suit. Gabriel cast a spell adding protection to the soldiers' armor. Sophia cast a spell giving Martin and his fighters a renewed feeling of vigor and health, a rejuvenator to their mind and body.

Martin reached out with his mind sending the natural fauna of the forest fleeing in fear. Less life forms to get in his way. Less life forms to injure. He felt a woman, the origin of the fear, and an older boy. He moved in the direction of that woman as he continued to search the woods with his mind when his steps faltered. He almost fell as his mind slammed into something unnatural.

He quickly glanced over his shoulder at his group. Marcus had a surprised look on his face. Suwon had a look of fear. Sophia had fallen and Gabriel helped her to stand as he failed to hide his look of concern.

The werewolves were here. The Hoarding had begun.

Marcus returned his attention to the forest and the new targets, the werewolves. The other vampires behind him kept pace as the changed direction away from the woman. The vampires embraced the dark of the forest not needing light. They reached out with their minds envisioning the surrounding areas to avoid falling trees and gaping holes.

The werewolves stood in a clearing, a few hundred yards away. Martin grew confused not understand why the werewolves picked a clearing of such small trees. He almost staggered when he realized the truth. The trees appeared small in his mind because the werewolves were big, bigger than the vampires were. He detected seven of them and hoped his vampires could defeat seven werewolves.

The werewolves stood over seven feet tall, even the smallest. They stood on two legs and were very much like humans, except they had wolf-like snouts and were covered in fur. Their eyes glowed, much like wolves, in the dark reflecting the smallest bit of starlight able to find a path through the trees.

The werewolves held their thick, sinewy arms bowed at their sides preparing to grab the fanged ones. Their maws opened wide frothing with anticipation at ripping out the undeads' throats. The Hoarding gave them extra strength and courage. The three magical stars blessed them in the sky encouraging them to feast on mortals and spread their bite to a special few. Out of those special few, fate would determine who lived through the transformation to join their ranks.

The largest of the werewolves bounded forward to meet the first of the vampires to break the tree line. He almost laughed as he realized these were the puniest vampires that he had ever seen.

Martin engaged the largest of the werewolves. He charged with his sword at the ready. Before Martin could react, the werewolf stepped to the side, grabbed Martin's sword arm, pulled the vampire past, and raked his claws across Martin's back. Then he flung the vampire against one of the trees turning away before Martin crashed into the tree. The werewolf was on to his next victim.

Martin had felt the burn on his back as the claws raked into his flesh, shredding his metal armor into strips. A horrible sensation of coldness entered his body as a broken branch pierced through his back. The force of the werewolf's throw impaled him onto the tree.

The coldness grew, but he was lucky because the broken branch missed his heart and he still lived. Pain and weakness flooded his body and mind. He could not free himself from the wood and he lost his connection to his people. He was helpless, the wood immobilizing him. Martin knew fear for the first time since his immortal transformation.

He saw a burst of embers indicating that one of his kind had not been as lucky as he was. For the first time, Martin prayed to the Magic that Uruku believed to be alive. He prayed for her to send help, protect his people, and stop the pain.

Martin did not have the strength to free himself and dread filled him as he saw more of his friends cut down by the werewolves. He had underestimated the danger. He had failed to understand his enemy and now his people paid the price.

Sophia and Gabriel stood behind Marcus and Suwon. Each spell caster worked in tandem with the fighters keeping the werewolves at bay and maneuvering their quad to battle against their enemy. They had good tactics. They were causing damage to the werewolves, but other vampires were dying. Two werewolves had converged on the single vampire each grabbing a limb and, together, ripping the fighter apart. Then a burst of embers indicated that vampire was no more.

Martin saw one of the werewolves pick up a broken branch and throw it unerringly at Marcus who stood in front of Gabriel. The branch would embed both of them. Martin felt a strange touch of incredible magic. Magic had answered his prayers. He felt his mind grow strong and realized he could enter one of their bodies, but only one. He entered Marcus taking control of his nephew's body. He threw Marcus back bending into an arch that slammed Gabriel painfully to the ground as the branch wedged between Marcus' armor, denting it, and ripping the flesh of his abdomen. A burning pain from the wood flushed the wound.