The Enemies of Vengeance

by P. A Ross

  I kept drinking my lager and looking at information on my phone. I kept trying to engage the man, but he did not respond to any of my attempts. The night grew late and he was one of the last few customers in the bar. He finished his second bottle of wine, said goodbye to the barman and then staggered through the tables and chairs. I decided to follow him out into the open air. Without the noise and confusion of the other people, I could focus in on him and trigger a reaction.

  I followed him out into the cooling night air and down the street. Once outside the man stopped and lit up a cigarette. He looked up at the sky and blew out a long cloud of smoke and then stumbled on. I focused my senses in on him. His movements were erratic and impaired, and so were his thoughts. They were a random mess and blur after his couple of bottles of red wine. This didn't seem like a man who could be a Dragan. Alcohol couldn't affect a Dragan as their superior healing would burn off the alcohol instantly. He did not seem like a man who was a captain of the Royal Guard, the best warrior of the Dragans.

  The man stumbled into an alley where he undid his shorts, peed against the wall and sucked on his cigarette. I gave up, he clearly wasn't Rip. I turned around and went back to the hotel.

  I looked up at the stars as I walked and considered what I would do next. A force smacked into my back and sent me sprawling onto the flagstoned floor. I spun around as a dark figure flew up into the air and landed with his knees on my chest. His hand shoved my head down, and his snarling fangs shot into view. His red eyes pierced down and hot alcoholic breath streamed over me.

  "Who the hell are you?" The man with the scar shouted.

  "I'm V, and I guess you are Rip. Thorn says hello."

  Chapter Eleven

  "Thorn," he screamed, and pulled his hands back, unleashed his claws and swiped down.

  I bucked my body upwards and sent him sprawling. I flipped onto my feet and took a few steps back. "Please just listen to me for a moment. Thorn wishes to give you a message. If you aren't interested, I will leave immediately." I held out my hand and whipped out my mobile phone.

  The man was back on his feet, claws and fangs out, and his eyes blood red. His face contorted to a sickening grey, and his hair spiked on end as the muscles tensed. He marched forwards, fury burning in his eyes. I pressed play on the video clip and pointed it at him.

  I had watched the video clip, and I hoped it would have the desired effect. There was no way I could stop this Dragan if he wished to kill me.

  The video began to play of Thorn stood in front of a plain concrete wall. She wore jeans and a white vest top, and her tousled black hair hung down onto her shoulders. "Hi Rip, long time no see. Please listen to what I have to say before you run away or kill the messenger. And I would prefer it if you didn't kill the messenger as I am in Union with him."

  She smiled at the camera and then continued. "I know a lot has happened between us, and I know you feel bad about what happened to my family. It was hundreds of years ago now. I haven't seen you since that night, but I know you've been running from me ever since. And maybe, in the beginning, I did want revenge on you. I am not going to deny it, you are too smart. But we need to put our differences aside and bring all the Dragans back together. The curse of the Turned has spiralled out of control, as they have formed an alliance with the Hunters. We need to put right what we did wrong. And that means burying the hatchet and forgetting all old feuds. And to prove to you I mean it, there is someone here I want to introduce you to."

  The camera moved around to reveal a man standing beside Thorn. He had blond hair swept back with a parting down the middle. He was about 6 foot 2, had icy blue eyes and chiselled features. With his sharp features, came an elegant but obviously muscular body showing through his tight black T-shirt and jeans. The man smiled at the camera and then at Thorn. "Hi Rip, just in case you have forgotten who I am or forgotten what I look like. I'm Cyrus. If Thorn can forgive me and discuss an alliance between us, then you should have no problem."

  Rip's features reverted to normal, his fangs and claws retracted. His eyes cleared to normal as he wore an expression of surprise. The camera moved back to Thorn again. "The person with the message, his name is V. And I know you can tell there's something different about him. I will let V tell you his story. But I am hoping you will train him and then accompany him to meet up with us. I think you will find his story fascinating and hopefully, it will be enough for you to trust me again, as I am willing to trust you. We all hope to see you soon."

  The video then stopped, and the screen froze on the image of Thorn standing next to Cyrus.

  The man just pointed at the phone. "How could she? That man is evil. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have the Turned, or had the civil the war. We wouldn't have lost our kingdom and been scattered to the four corners of the Earth."

  I put the phone back into my pocket and stared at the man waiting for a response. He put his head in his hands and shook it around, scratching at his hair. He looked up at me again and shook his head. He spun around and walked off.

  "Hello, excuse me. What is your response?" I shouted after him.

  He waved behind his head. "I need more drink. And I am going home. If you want to know more, then you can follow."

  I ran after him, caught up and walked by his side. He stopped and offered me a cigarette. "No, thank you," I replied.

  "Take one. It can't do you any harm. I don't know what you are, but I'm guessing a cigarette will not damage you. And I hate to smoke and drink alone. So, if you want to talk to me, then you must keep me company."

  He shook the cigarette packet at me, and I took one out. I put it to my mouth, and he pulled out a lighter and lit the end. I had never smoked before, so I was unsure what to do. I breathed in, pulling in the smoke and then started coughing. He chuckled to himself and then lit his own cigarette and carried on walking.

  We walked out of the town and down a country lane with dark fields to either side. We jumped over a wooden fence and walked across a field to a small cottage with a garage next to it and gravel pathway leading onto the road. He opened the cottage door and flicked on the lights.

  We entered through the back door into a rustic kitchen and the smell of stale cigarettes and red wine. I walked onto the terracotta tiled floor and stood next to a big wooden table with red wine glass marks. On the center of the table was a big ashtray with a mountain of ash and stubs of cigarettes.

  Rip swiped a bottle of red wine from a collection on the wooden kitchen worktop. He opened the cupboards above and pulled out two wine glasses. Cigarette packs were piled on the shelf next to it.

  He poured out the red wine, pulled back a chair and offered me a seat opposite him. I sat down and continued to puff on the cigarette. He had guessed I wasn't entirely human but not entirely Dragan either, by the fact he said the cigarette would not harm me. I knew every puff of the cigarette smoke was damaging my lungs, but I also knew my enhanced Dragan powers were healing my body.

  Rip raised a glass of red wine, and I picked up mine and we tapped them together.

  "So, you have a story to tell me. I have a bottle of red wine here, so make sure you have finished it by the time we get to the end. And if I find it interesting, we open another bottle and I will tell you my story."

  "I am not used to drinking. I'm not sure I can handle all this and smoking."

  "Well, you better get used to it, as it will be an important part of your training. Anyway, I suspect you can handle your drink, you have abilities. These abilities should make you Dragan, but I smell far too much human on you and sense too much human emotion. So we start off with you explaining to me who you are and what you are?"

  "You're right. I'm about seventy percent Dragan and thirty percent Human. And one day I hope to be one hundred percent Dragan. But I guess your question is how that could be even possible. I best start at the very beginning. One day I was leaving school to find my best friend at the school gates," I said.

  I then told him everything. I told him the st
ory of Giles's kidnap by the local gang, his mum trying to rescue him and accidentally paralysing one of the O'Keefe gang. I told him that I found out that the kidnapping was meant for me, to encourage my dad to leave Leeds and move to London. This twist in fate now had extra meaning, as without the accident and the subsequent bullying of Giles, he would have never been recruited by the Hunters and turned into a werewolf.

  I carried on with my move to London and how I ended up meeting Thorn in the research centre. I explained my transformation through the vampire formula, Thorn's escape and our life on the run. I told him the full story of Vegas and the road trip, my meeting with Cassius and learning that we weren't vampires. And then onto my fleeing of Thorn and my return back to England.

  He listened intently to the whole story, his ears pricking up as I mentioned names and places he had heard of, like Cassius and Cyrus. I told him of my capture by the Hunters and torture at their hands. The eventual rescue by Thorn, Max and Cassius, and my turning into the Dragon form in the fight in the warehouse. This particular point sparked his interest and he spluttered on his red wine, but he signalled me to carry on.

  I brought him right up to speed with my Union to Thorn, my return back to England again to encounter Giles as a werewolf. All of which led me to meet Mary again, discovering she was actually an MI5 agent, which was how I tracked him down to France.

  He downed his last gulp of red wine, which meant we had finished off the bottle. I wasn't feeling as drunk as I expected after drinking half a bottle of red wine. Rip looked drunker than I did, which I couldn't understand. He grabbed another bottle, opened it and poured us another glass each.

  "That is an amazing journey. You have great potential. To be able to turn into the Dragon form is a feat that few have managed. Thorn knew I would be interested in training such a person. It has been such a long time since I was able to instruct anyone. Studying martial arts and training others was my great passion. It has been so long since anyone wanted to listen to me. It's been so long since I was willing to train anyone. Teaching humans isn't the same."

  "But will you train me? Will you teach me how to fight a werewolf?"

  "It doesn't look like I have anything better to do. And if this means I can win back the favour of Thorn and return to the company of Dragans, then I am willing to take the risk. I cannot live another seven hundred years hiding from everybody."

  I grinned, slugged back more of my red wine and topped my own glass up. "So when does the first lesson begin?"

  Rip grinned and blew out a puff of smoke, sank down his red wine, and slipped off the chair and landed on the floor. He lay on the floor, laughing his head off, holding his red wine high in the air. "I have not spilled a drop. How about that for agility and speed?" He laughed more and hauled himself back up.

  He then finished the rest of the glass in one go and grabbed another bottle of wine. He pulled out the cork, poured himself a drink and sat back down. He stubbed out his bent cigarette into the ashtray and lit another one. "Drink up, boy. Drink up."

  I stared at him in utter disbelief. Surely this was not the man who was going to train me to beat werewolves, the man who was supposedly unrivalled in the Dragan martial arts. I took another drink and then slammed the glass on the table.

  "What is wrong with you? How can you be so drunk? I'm only seventy percent Dragan, and my body is healing and burning the alcohol off. But you are utterly wasted."

  He smiled and took another drag of his cigarette. He winked at me and sipped back more red wine. "This is your first lesson. You're right, how can I possibly be drunk? Am I pretending?"

  I opened up my senses to hear his thoughts and feel his emotions. But all I got was a slur of swirling random thoughts. I had sensed the thoughts of drunken people before, and his were exactly the same. "No, you are definitely drunk."

  "And how possibly, could I be drunk?" He slurred at me.

  "I have no idea. It shouldn't be possible. Thorn could only get drunk if she took the alcohol in somebody else's blood. And even then it would not last long due to her fast metabolism. Maybe you are damaged in some way."

  "Did I seem damaged when I attacked you earlier on? Were my movements that of a drunk man?"

  "No, you were fast and strong. The moments before, when I was following, you were as drunk as you are now."

  "So how am I getting drunk, and how was I able to sober up so quickly."

  "I am unsure."

  "Let me ask you another question. Where does a Dragan's power come from?"

  I sipped my wine and mulled over the question. "From the fact that the vampire formula has changed me physically, I suspect it is a genetic enhancement. We are stronger and faster than humans. Our brains more powerful to send psychic messages."

  "This is very true. But it is not the whole reason behind the Dragan power. Tell me everything you know about Dragans."

  "They were created from a merging of a mage and dragon. Silver hurts them due to the silver swords that were used to kill dragons. But Dragans can only live at night due to the dark magic used to create them. They need to drink blood to survive, another part of the dark magic."

  "Dark magic helped create the Dragans. We drink blood, not just because of the dark magic and the blood sacrifice it represents, but it is the easiest source of food to replace the iron we need. The Dragan body needs more iron than a human and burns through it. Silver hurts us due to it hurting dragons. A Dragan is made from a mage and dragon. So we were literally created by magic from magical and human creatures. And you believe our power is purely down to genetics?" he said, and shrugged and sighed.

  I nodded in acknowledgement and took a puff of my cigarette and coughed again. "So magic is important as well. Hence how Dragans can make the Turned. I understand that Dragan blood still teems with magic."

  "Dragans still teem with magic. The blood merely carries it around, but every part of a Dragan's body holds magic. Considering this then, why is Thorn the strongest of all Dragans."

  "Because she is closest born to the first Dragans."

  "This is true. But genetically, she is not as big and strong as Cassius or me."

  "But her genetics are stronger, more dragon in them?"

  "Maybe slightly, but not enough. Her true power lies elsewhere, as we have discussed."

  "She has more magic in her."

  "Good. You are on the right track, and I think this is what everyone believes. But through my studies, I have come to a different conclusion. I believe our Dragan bodies can hold only so much magic, we are limited in our physical capacity. And this magic can only be used within our bodies due to the constraints of the original spell."

  "She can hold more magic then? But it is not a physically bound capacity due to size. Maybe because she is closest born."

  "Maybe it is a physical and genetic limitation. Maybe a body can only hold so much at any time. Some Dragans can hold more due to size and genetics."

  "Then what are you saying? What makes Thorn special?"

  "What makes you and Thorn special don't you mean to say?"

  "Both of us?"

  "You are made from her blood. You became a Dragon. You are special."

  I gulped and took another sip of wine. "I don't know."

  "It is not that you hold more magic, or you are significantly genetically stronger. But, I believe, you can channel the magic from outside and into your bodies, giving you a greater source. I think all Dragans can channel magic else we would have dried up long ago if we can only hold so much magic. There must be a way it is replaced. But some are better than others at channelling magic, driving their abilities to greater heights."

  "But I thought all magic had gone from the world as used up to make the Dragans."

  "That has been the general understanding, but I believe the access to magic by everyone other than Dragans was stopped."

  "But why do you think that?"

  He puffed on his cigarette and poured more red wine. "I have seen things in this world that can onl
y be explained by magic. While Thorn was gathering great wealth and power, I sought out knowledge and experiences. I studied with great masters and learnt ancient teachings. I saw some humans with abilities beyond the normal. I detected powers in them. Only a few in all these centuries, but somehow they were able to tap into the ancient power. I suspect they may have been descendants of the mages."

  "They could still perform magic?"

  "Not perform magic. No fireballs shooting from their hands. But they were able to channel something to give themselves skills. I believe these few could find the magic still in the world that surrounds us. So it is not just within us, but we have the power to tap into it. Plus recently, I have heard of things that indicate this power among humans is on the rise. Magic may well be returning to humans."

  "Yes. Mary said the same thing to me. The world is changing. Reality is distorting. Humans with powers have been detected," I said, but decided to leave out the part it could be my fault. "So can a Dragan perform magic? Could I perform magic?"

  "I have tried and others have tried as well. But it seems it has to be channelled through our bodies. Hence, why we have to feed it to other creatures for them to take on our powers."

  "Okay. So the power of the Dragan comes from magic that is channelled from the outside and its genetic abilities. But how does this explain why you are drunk?"