The Grim Legion

by Kindred Ult

  "Edward was the younger of the two, he was barely fifteen at the time of his sister's capture, but he was widely regarded as the best fighter in the nation. He resolved that the vampires must have a weakness and that he would kill them one by one until they were all dead. He disappeared into the forest and was not seen for a very long time. The oldest brother, Galstryx, was not a warrior, but he was also renowned in his own way. At the age of thirty he was considered to be hundreds of years ahead of his time in science. He decided that the only way to defeat the vampires was to find a way to be better than they were. He hid himself in his room for several years, and in the course of his time there he analyzed all of the properties that made vampires special: their strength, speed, blood-driven regenerative capabilities, how they can make others their own kind, and even their Other form. He soon deduced that the only way he could defeat Lucifer and his demonic race of followers was to find a formula powerful enough to transform him into something more powerful than they were in every way.

  "It took him many years to find the formula, but like I said, he was a genius. Eventually he discovered it and he rashly decided to try it on himself. As you can probably imagine, the result was to turn him into a werewolf. You see, we are superior to vampires in every way. We are stronger, faster, we do not need to feed to regenerate, others are made werewolves whether we want them to or not, our first class form comes to us immediately upon reaching a certain amount of power, and we have no weaknesses to the sun, holy water, or crucifixes. Unfortunately, Galstryx forgot to compensate for just how much strain his transformation would place on his mind. He went insane, and in his madness he finished the job Lucifer started and slaughtered every human in his castle and country. That insanity has been our bane for all these years. Most of us lose a fair amount of our intelligence in the first Bloodlust, and even those who don't tend to lost technical skill when fighting. These small faults are what have kept us from defeating the vampires. Their technical skill will always be better than ours will, and they are extremely levelheaded.

  "On a side note, a few of us have been able to deny the first Bloodlust, and some of those are still able to deny the feral beast within us when we fight. Those that can are without a doubt our deadliest fighters, and few vampires can stand against them.

  "Well, anyway, so in a few minutes, every single human in the castle and surrounding countryside that had been killed by Galstryx was resurrected as a werewolf and followed him into the forest of Darkoven with one mind. That's another way we are superior to vampires. They have to consciously make a human a vampire, and they only bestow that gift on those they think are worthy, but we will make anyone a werewolf. Even if they die in the process, they will come back to life unless their head is severed from their body or their heart is ripped out. While I'm at this I guess I'll tell you a bit of trivia, there was a third brother, but he was about five or six at the time of Galstryx's rampage and no one knows what happened to him. We assume that his head must have been crushed or something, 'cause he is not a werewolf now.

  "Man, I'm really getting side-tracked. So, while Galstryx and his army charged towards Lucifer and his nation, Edward returned from trying to fight his way to Lucifer. He had fought for a very long time, with many vampires falling to his blade, and many more knowing and fearing his name, but in the end he was not able to battle his way to Lucifer, so he decided to return to the castle with his extensive knowledge of the Vampire anatomy and weaknesses. He had meant to train others so that he could return later, but when he returned he discovered that everyone he had known was dead. At that moment Edward vowed to kill all evil vampires and werewolves, and to make this come about he changed his name and started a school to train others to kill vampires and werewolves."

  "E." Brand muttered under his breath.

  Lupine was oblivious. "Meanwhile, Galstryx had been waging a war against the vampires with his army unlike anything Lore had ever seen. The vampires were woefully unprepared for what lay in store for them. They had been around for countless years before this incident, and they had had no serious challenges to their power for over a century. In the absence of any real war, they had turned to infighting. They had become tired with slowly increasing their power by eating the blood of lesser mortals and had begun a vicious faction war that centered on devouring each other for more strength. They had also forbade any of their kind from recruiting any new members because they had become greedy and paranoid. Their style of advancing was like how ours is now, a duel to the death was required to advance in rank, except that while we can afford the loss, they absolutely could not.

  "So basically, Galstryx caught the vampires at their worst moment, but the few hundred of them that were left had become very powerful from killing all of the weaker ones. The battles were fierce, but victory for Galstryx and our perfect race was inevitable. They tore through the Vampires' ranks, despite taking heavy losses of their own, and stormed the Vampire Castle. After they raided through all of the halls and tunnels, they finally reached the highest room in the castle, and when they burst through the door they found Lucifer and all of the strongest vampires left alive. If the earlier battles were fierce, this one was legendary. The werewolves must have outnumbered the vampires one hundred to one, but these were the oldest, craftiest, and strongest vampires left alive, and they had nowhere else to run. The fighting continued for hours, with both sides slaughtering each other with bloody revelry, but towards the end it seemed that, with their age-honed skills and desperation, the vampires would come out as the victors.

  Then, however, Galstryx found Lucifer and immediately attacked him. They fought for many minutes, but eventually Galstryx rammed into Lucifer and they both fell to the ground. Lucifer somehow came out of top, but when he tried to stab Galstryx, his sword was no longer in his hand. Galstryx rolled him over and finally…Say, all this talking is parching my throat. Could I maybe get a cup of water?"

  Brand let out a sigh, he was very engrossed in the story, but as he was about to get up he smiled mischievously and nodded to Nasoren. "Find her some water, slave."

  He did not need eyes to see her scowl as she stood and went into another room. She quickly returned with a clay cup and some water that had been kept in a bucket. When Lupine finished her drink, she cleared her throat and started up again. "So, anyway, they grappled for a bit, but eventually Galstryx proved the stronger of the two and ripped out Lucifer's heart. As he devoured the heart, it looked like the vampires would certainly be destroyed. Here was the strongest being in the forest becoming even stronger by eating the heart of the second strongest. However, once again Galstryx miscalculated just how powerful he could handle. The surge of power intoxicated him, and he was powerless to resist his own sister Christine, now known as Safiria, when she cut out his heart with a silver sword and devoured it, gaining both his power and Lucifer's. She was just as overtaken as Galstryx had been, but with the destruction of their originator and leader, the werewolves reverted to mere animals and fled in all directions. Ever since then, for reasons no one knows, silver has retarded our regeneration abilities.

  "It took us several years before we regained our senses and began a real resistance against the vampires, but at the end of the war there was only about ten vampires left besides Safiria, and they were forced to go far abroad on missions from her to quickly bolster their troops. So in the end, we found this lair, which hasn't been discovered yet, and they found some way to disguise the location of their castle. The vampires changed their political structure, we found ours, and we've been fighting an equal battle since then. Except for the Werepyre Wars, after those we were united in a treaty for a bit, but eventually they betrayed us and we fell to fighting again. Well, I'm thoroughly tired, so unless you have no other questions or problems, I'll be leaving."

  Brand took a moment to gather all of the information. E had never told them the history behind the war; he had merely told them that he was determined to kill all evil. "Oh, thank you very much Lupine. I've been very
well educated today."

  "No problem, if you really want to learn more, you can enroll in my history class." She headed towards the door and shifted to her werewolf form. "Oh, and don't forget to appear before the royal couple in three days."

  Brand had forgotten about that. "Oh yea, what's that for anyway?"

  "So that you can be stationed, obviously."

  Brand did not like where this conversation was going. "In what?"

  She turned back. "Why, in the werewolf army of course. You are a first class after all. What did you expect?" She left and closed the door behind her. Brand and Nasoren looked at each other with mortified expressions. Eventually Brand spoke what both of them were thinking. "I can't join the army!"

  - 4 -

  As Sheep To Slaughter

  10

  As Sheep to SlaughterWeeks later, Demenn ran noiselessly through the forest. He felt edgy, because he was in the werewolves' territory, but knowing where each person in his squad was and what their status was comforted him. Varus was a little behind him and to his left, Leon and Raphael were to his right, Sophella and Niethel were behind him, and Lidian was scouting far ahead of the main group. He could sense that all of them shared his feelings of unease. It was almost night, and so soon the werewolves would awaken and begin to hunt for food. Once that happened they would almost certainly be found and would have to retreat, for while none of them made any noise, werewolves had been training their noses to sense vampires for years, and it was said that they could literally smell a vampire a mile away. They had several herbs to hide their smell and combat this, but those would last thirty minutes at most, and once they wore off the attacks would begin.

  For now, though, it was still many minutes until sundown and they had somehow managed to go farther into this portion of territory than any scouting squad before them had. There was guarantee that they would find anything, but this was one of the many spots of which the vampires had almost no knowledge of and no maps for, so they were a little excited and anxious. They were running during the day because they wanted the edge given to them by there being no werewolves, but they had to be very careful. All of them wore combat gear, which covered every inch of their bodies save for their feet, hands, and head; and their boots, gloves, and wide hats finished their outfits so that almost no skin was showing. They barely needed to bother, though, because the trees in this part of Darkoven were so tall and dense that light could only be seen in intervals of about thirty or fifty feet. Even though none of them spoke, Sophella had set up a mind link between them, so they were able to communicate telepathically.

  'Do you think that we're near anything important?' thought Varus.

  'Doubtful,' Demenn replied. 'We are probably not even in the right area to find something, but we have still gone farther than any before us have, so we would be served to look as hard as we can.'

  'Right,' Lidian agreed. 'Besides, if we can't find it, at least we can find where it's not.'

  Niethel was not so optimistic. 'I don't like this, we went to the camp back in vampire territory, but we were there for like two minutes before the captain there sent us on this mission. Doesn't that seem strange to you? I mean, who gets sent on a mission the moment they arrive?'

  'Please Pussy, they obviously just heard about us before and knew we were coming. He was just testing us. Get a freakin' backbone.' Leon laughed in his head.

  Raphael laughed as well. 'Ya, why did the vampires ever accept someone as weak-ass as you.'

  'Shut up you two,' Sophella glared at the two of them. 'I think that he's raising a good point. Why would they send us out on a mission when we barely got there? I don't think that captain even asked our names, and if you two are too stupid to notice thing like that, then either shut up or I'll cut you out of this conversation.'

  Raphael feigned hurt. "Oh girl, I guess gunpowder does come in small barrels. Man firecrackers like you make life worth living. I dunno' though, it sure sounds like you're just trying to protect Pussy over there.'

  'Hmmm, I'll bet she likes him, I hear girls always go for the weak emotional ones.' Leon smirked.

  It cannot be understated just how close Sophella was to giving both of them epileptic seizures, but then Lidian's mind cut through. 'Everyone be quiet. It's almost nighttime and—'

  Her thoughts were drowned by countless howls and cries that seemed to be coming from everywhere around them. Many were disturbingly close, but eventually they all quieted. Once they finally ended Lidian started again. 'Demenn, I think I found something. Head North-West until you see something that looks like a giant werewolf's head—' No sooner had she finished the word than her mind suddenly went blank and she left the conversation.

  'Lidian? Lidian!? Everyone head North-West!' Demenn yelled out and began running. The others quickly followed and Sophella dropped the mind link so that they could give all of their attention to the task at hand. They had only been running at full speed for a few minutes when they burst from the forest and came upon a narrow slit in a cliff. From where they were, they could see a large stone werewolf's head at the end of the small crack, but even more pressing for them, they saw Lidian lying on the ground surrounded by fifteen werewolves. Two or three were kneeling next to her, and as they ran at them Demenn saw a flash as a knife was drawn.

  "Position A," Demenn said in a low voice. He said it loud enough that those with him could hear him, and also the werewolves, but quietly enough that none others could. "Except Niethel and Sophella. You two stay where you are and kill as many as you can."

  Niethel and Sophella nodded. They knew their roles. Then, as all of the werewolves turned to regard the group headed towards them, the rest of them charged towards the werewolves. Once again, they ran very quietly, but loud enough to let the werewolves know what they meant to do. Demenn's plan worked; the werewolves turned as one from Lidian and drew their weapons. Had this been a major vampire invasion, the werewolves would have signaled an alarm, but since it was only four vampires charging and two holding back, they were not worried. They were also rather quiet, since they knew that seven vampire hearts would not split equally between them and they did not want to share them with anyone else.

  Some pulled out swords or axes, while others placed their hands on the ground and growled. Their muscles clenched and suddenly bulged, and their claws lengthened, not to the extent of a class one, but still larger than they had been before. Those that went Feral lost almost all reason and started charging, making the others follow as well. Demenn sighed in relief. He had expected them to not sound the alarm, and had been counting on it, but he still knew that fifteen to six were not very favorable odds.

  Before any of the normal werewolves took a step forward, one fell silently to the ground with an arrow in its eye. Within seconds another was blown back into the side of the cliff by a black bolt of lightning and convulsed before finally falling as well. The first two deaths added urgency to the other werewolves, and they now ran towards the vampires. Before the sides met two more were dead.

  Position A is a rather popular maneuver in vampire tactics; it involves the entire group forming a large V pattern, with the strongest fighter at the point and the two second strongest on the ends. The idea is that the squad will slice through the enemy instead of allowing the two sides to meet parallel to each other, which favors the werewolves. However, since Lidian was down they had an even number of warriors, so they had to make an imperfect triangle with Demenn and Varus in front and Leon and Raphael on the ends. The two sides met with a loud clang of metal meeting metal, since the seven werewolves with weapons had charged them, and the four feral werewolves left had charged after Niethel and Sophella.

  Demenn quickly ducked under horizontal swing by a third class and shoved his spear up inside its ribcage, piercing its heart. Varus, instead of waiting for his opponent, jabbed out at the werewolf, a second class. The second class slapped his sword down with the flat of its own blade, and as his sword went through its knees it pulled its sword across its
body and sliced out at him. Varus was able to swing his shield up, but as the sword met it he felt his hand go numb from the shock of the blow. Raphael was fighting two fifth classes; his sword swam in and around theirs as he laughed. These were no challenge for him. He defeated ones attack while opening up the throat of another. The living werewolf threw a low attack at him, which he blocked with one sword, and slashed a line across its chest with his other. The werewolf stared at him for a moment, until he lifted both swords and stabbed them through its eyes.

  Leon was having far more trouble with his, which was a class two. It fought with a one-handed sword, but it was still able to match strength with his two-handed sword and style. It swung at him, and he placed the flat of his blade on his body, swinging all of his being into his block, which stopped the attack. Before he could counter or move back, though, the werewolf let its sword arm get thrown back by the force of the block and lunged forward, punching him in the face. The fierce blow sent him backwards, which temporarily destroyed the triangle. The werewolf tasted the blood on its fist and its eyes burned redder than they had before. It threw down it sword and turned Feral before charging after Leon on all fours. Leon leapt up from the ground and jumped to the side as the werewolf landed where he had been, rolled twice, and finally came back to his feet and grabbed at his sword. He turned around just in time to see the werewolf leap at him again and he had only seconds to react, so he shoved his sword into the ground and knelt down behind it, having his entire body support it. The werewolf was in the air, so it had no way to change its direction, but it did not care.