The Bane of Existence

Published: 25 Jan 2018

As the word “war” echoed around them, Zane’s friends looked at him with astonishment and a small amount of concern. They also wondered what this declaration would really mean for the group and how they operated. Being the oldest in human years and in vampire years, Grayson recovered ahead of the rest.

“What does this declaration of war mean?” Grayson asked his eyes boring into Zane. “How will it be different from things now?”

One by one as they recovered from their shock the others nodded their agreement to Grayson’s inquiry. When Zane came down from his fury he found everyone looking at him waiting for an answer. Slowly his mind caught up and he realized what Grayson had asked. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply trying to bring some order to his thoughts.

Zane hadn’t considered what announcing a state of war would actually mean and entail. It was purely a reaction to seeing his brother attacked and threatened by a minion of the Bane. Looking inside himself now, he knew it was the right thing to do.

The air of anticipation thickened as Zane stood still and silent with his eyes closed and his mind racing through the possibilities. After almost five minutes, Zane opened his eyes and smiled grimly at those gathered around him.

“Let’s go into the common room and get comfortable,” he said as he led the way to the cave opening.

“Here is what I want you to do when you attack,” ordered Lady Bane glaring at the gathered Rogues. “Wear them down if you don’t take them completely by surprise. Then I want it obvious they were killed by vampires. But before you drain them dry, check their auras and any that might be leaning toward evil turn them to bolster our ranks. Any questions?”

When no one spoke up Erika scanned each member then pointed to one vampire in each group, “You are in charge of your troop. Make certain my orders are obeyed or suffer my wrath.”

“Yes, Lady Bane,” replied the leader of Troop One. “It shall be as you command,” responded the leader of Troop Two.

“Wendell, give them the maps and directions so they can be on their way,” directed the Bane, “Death and devastation to our foes!”

“Death and devastation!” yelled out the vampires as they filed out of the house behind their leaders.

“Are you sure this is the right way, Karl?” questioned Drew as he pulled into a small town in the foothills of North Carolina.

“Yes, Drew, I’m sure,” answered Karl from the passenger seat. “We are very close to the source of that magical blast of power. It has to be around here somewhere.”

“Okay. Where do I go now?”

“Just keep on this road, Drew. But go slow in case I need you to turn or stop.”

“Gotcha, Karl. I can do that.”

Drew drove slowly through the town turning wherever Karl directed him until the pair were on a road at the edge of the town close to the mountains. As they drove down the road Karl kept muttering, “Close, close,” while looking from side to side carefully.

At one point his mumbling changed to, “Really close,” but soon he started chanting, “No, no, no.” Drew stopped the car then and waited for Karl to say something.

“We’ve passed where I felt it the strongest but I haven’t seen a road going the right direction,” complained Karl when he noticed they weren’t moving.

“I’ll turn around and drive back even slower,” stated Drew calmly. “Let me know when you feel it closer and we’ll check for a road or something.”

Karl nodded and concentrated as they moved back the way they had come. He called for Drew to stop when he felt closer and pointed towards a small house that sat a little ways back among the trees. “It’s that way!”

When Karl had said to stop Drew had pulled over as far off the road as he could in order to be out of the way of any other traffic. He and Karl looked up and down the street in the direction that Karl had pointed out but still could not find a road going that direction.

“Let’s look around,” suggested Drew opening the car door.

Heaving a sigh Karl joined his husband on the street locking the doors behind him. They spent quite some time searching about a quarter of mile in front of the car then about the same distance behind the car with no luck.

Back at the car Karl found himself staring at the house they had stopped in front of convinced the source they were searching for lay in that direction. Seeing where his life mate’s focus was Drew decided to scan the house with magic. What he detected caused him to gasp loudly drawing Karl’s attention.

“What is it?” inquired Karl worriedly.

“It’s okay. There’s no one there,” assured Drew patting Karl on the shoulder. “But there is a residue of magic use inside the house.”

“What should we do?”

“You scan that side around to behind us while I do this side around until we meet. And Karl, calm down and breathe.”

They performed the scans all around checking each house that was visible from where they stood. Every house was empty of any people although one house did have a dog inside.

“Okay. They’re empty so now what?” questioned Karl unable to quit watching the house across from them.

“We go investigate this house and the grounds around it while there’s no one to see us,” grinned Drew mischievously.

Karl shook his head at his husband’s eagerness to snoop around where magic had been used as he followed him through the yard toward the house.

The group gathered in the common room of the cave making themselves comfortable as they waited for Zane to begin speaking. There was none of the usual small talk that took place before one of their meetings because they all were anxious to learn what Zane’s proclamation of war meant for them.

“I know initially my announcement of war was a reaction to seeing my brother attacked by that sneak of a Rogue,” began Zane with his head bowed. He raised his head to look them directly in the eye as he continued.

“The more I think about it with a calmer attitude, though, the more I am sure it is the correct and necessary course of action. I can feel that the main thing all of you are concerned about is what going to war means to how we conduct our daily lives. The two major differences are we will start hunting down gatherings of Rogues and the Bane’s headquarters and we will start looking for other magic users to be allies in our war.”

“We will continue to train physically, mentally and magically but that training is going to intensify now. Any questions?”

Derek raised his hand and when he was acknowledged asked, “How do we go about finding others like us and how do we find Rogues?”

“That’s where you, Zach and my other brothers come in,” replied Zane with a slight grin. “You are going to use the internet. Many of these groups will have some kind of presence on the web that you can find and use to check them out. Once you find a few groups that agree to help they can point us towards others.”

“Alright, that takes care of finding allies,” stated Marko. “But how are we to find the Rogues we need to go after and not just vampires who’ve gotten out of hand? Much less how do we find the Bane?”

“Much of the finding Rogues will fall to you, Grayson and Shayn now that you have been in contact with Rogues created by the Bane,” answered Zane decisively. “It will be up to Zander and I to track down the Bane.”

“What about the training?” inquired Gavin.

“For the physical aspect I want you and Zander to take lead,” responded Zane. “Grayson and Shayn should lead the magical with the wolves working on the mental.”

Suddenly everyone’s head popped up as a wail of anguish cut through their magical and mental shields. Before anyone could move or speak a second cry resounded through their minds.

“Did you catch where they came from?” Zane asked looking at Grayson who nodded in response. “Good! You take Marko, Shayn, Gavin and Derek to the one in this state and I will take Zander, Zach and the wolves to the one in Virginia. Take no prisoners!”

Grayson gathered his group while Zane did the same then they pulled a stunt they had never tried before. Using the combined magic of each of their groups Zane and Grayson contacted one of the minds at the location they were headed. After getting their orientation from their contact each group formed a circle with everyone facing out then teleported ready to fight.

“There is definitely nobody here,” informed Karl as he and Drew met at the back after going around the house in opposite directions. “Besides that blast of magic didn’t originate here but off that direction.”

Karl stood facing the woods at the back of the yard while Drew was still examining the house itself.

“Yeah, but magic has been used in this house,” stated Drew with his arms outstretched palms facing the house. “And it has a similar flavor to the magic from that blast.”

“Do you want to go back to the car and leave or try to find the source?” asked Karl not sure which answer he hoped to hear.

“We have plenty of day left so let’s find the source,” replied Drew turning his attention to the woods now. “I can detect a small trail of the magic from here heading in the same direction you indicated for the source.”

“You gonna follow it or my sense of the source?” questioned Karl moving closer to his redheaded husband.

“Both,” answered Drew with a grin as he took hold of Karl’s hand. “At least as long as they go the same direction then I follow you. Like I always will.”

The two lovers walked toward the far edge of the yard hand in hand.

When Zane and his gang appeared in the basement room used by the small coven in the mountains of Virginia it looked like a scene from a horror movie. The room was trashed with furniture and pieces of furniture strewn all over the place. Three witches faced off against three vampires in magical battles while on the floor a Rogue was just lifting his bloody mouth from a lifeless witch and the wizard struggled against the vampire trying to drain his body.

It worked out that Zane and Zander faced the witch and wizard being attacked by the Rogues physically. Taking in the situation Zane chose to hopefully save the wizard who was still moving by firing a green energy ball at the Rogue.

With the two of them linked as usual Zander went after the one rising from the witch drawing his knife from its sheath and swinging the now four foot sword. Radesh and Rogan switched to wolf form and rushed after two of the battling vampires leaving Zach to help the third witch locked in magical combat with an advancing Rogue.

The Rogue targeted by Zane managed to partially block the ball and then stop the burning caused by the part that hit. This allowed the injured wizard to scoot a couple of feet away from the vampire before passing out due to his wounds. The Rogue was torn between finishing off the young magic-user and taking on the newcomer.

His hesitation allowed Zane to fly across the room and land a vicious sidekick knocking the Rogue hard into the wall behind him. Now the fiendish vampire had no choice but to focus on Zane in an attempt to save himself. He smirked wickedly as he advanced on the young looking opponent with extended claws.

Laughing out loud Zane let the predator approach and attack; he hardly noticed as the Rogue wore himself out trying to penetrate Zane’s defenses. Using his shield wall like a battering ram, Rinaldo’s Child shoved the hapless vampire into the wall a second time addling his brain. Zane grabbed the dazed Rogue and flung him toward Zander who had already ended the attacker of the witch. With their link nothing was said but Zander turned toward the thrown vampire bringing his sword to the perfect position to separate the Rogue’s body from his head.

The pair turned to the other side of the room to see how the rest of their squad was fairing. It was not going as well for Zach and the wolves in their fight against the other three Rogues. Zach had a six inch long slash on his left bicep, Radesh was limping and Rogan was locked in hand to hand combat with a six foot three vampire. To complicate matters more the three witches had spells ready but looked unsure of who to attack with them.

Grayson and his group appeared inside a stone and log cabin isolated from any town or city in North Carolina near the border with Virginia. The situation here was slightly better than in Virginia with Zane. The mages were holding their own against the Rogue vampires although a couple of the mages were injured.

The squad had been in the same formation as Zane’s troop but soon formed a line facing the Rogues with shields in place. The mages were alarmed to find another group in their meeting hall but the only reaction from the vampires was a look of renewed determination.

Grayson turned his attention to the mages and reassured them, “We are here to help. Check our auras to know the truth.”

A mage in a brown robe and cowl stepped behind the others and faced the newcomers concentration written on his face and in his body stance. After a moment he nodded to the others and retook his place in their defensive line.

“Thank you,” spoke the mage in the center wearing a dark gray robe with the cowl pulled back.

Thinking to catch them off guard the Rogues attacked in a rush. Unfortunately for them neither Grayson’s squad nor the mages had dropped their vigilance. Of the six uninjured mages four sent energy pulses at the swarming vampires while two maintained the shields. Grayson, Marko and Shayn fired energy spells at the same time as the mages while Gavin enlarged his body and Derek brought forth his claws.

Two of the six attacking Rogues were struck by spells from both the mages and a member of the troop destroying them completely. Two fiends fell injured from a single spell but were able to get back up.

Another two continued their headlong rush at the line of mages intent on carrying out the Bane’s orders. The one in the lead leapt towards a mage on the end only to find himself taken down by a snarling Derek with claws flying. The second Rogue was swatted out of the air by the now eight foot Gavin.

As Derek and Gavin grappled with their opponents Grayson and Marko drew their swords and advanced on the remaining Rogues. One of the injured vampires rose from the ground pulling a sword of his own out of the air and moved to meet Grayson. The other one rose, shook himself and headed in Marko’s direction while lengthening his nails to eight inch talons. The combatants circled one another as they began their dance of death.

Derek rolled along the ground as he wrangled with the Rogue he had tackled, each of them attempting to gain the upper hand. They tried punching, scratching and grabbing to be the one to dominate the other. Derek laid into the vampire with a vengeance using his cougar paws and mostly avoided the other’s attempts to retaliate.

Gavin followed the Rogue he smacked down and was on him almost as soon as he landed. After knocking him around a couple more times Gavin stepped back and allowed the vampire to rise to his feet. The wobbly Rogue tried to copy Gavin’s growth spell but only managed to reach about six foot eight.

The slightly larger vampire tried rushing Gavin hoping to catch him off guard but the eight footer stepped forward and met the attacker’s face with his fist. The surprised Rogue landed six feet back and again was wobbly on his feet. On his next attack Gavin sidestepped, grabbed the vampire by the head and snapped his neck before setting him on fire.

He turned in time to see Derek receive a nasty swipe from the Rogue’s claws down his arm from shoulder to elbow. Gavin as well as Shayn started ahead to assist when with a snarl that became a growl Derek’s head transformed to that of his cougar war form. The enraged spirit warrior bit through the front of the vampire’s throat then with a rip of his claws finished decapitating his opponent.

All three looked to where Grayson and Marko fenced with their rivals. Grayson was handling his foe with ease and was continually forcing him backward. Marko was having a harder time with his adversary who used the elongated nails on each hand to keep Marko busy parrying.

Having toyed with the Rogue long enough Grayson increased the speed of his parries and thrusts and in short order slapped the vampire’s sword to the side and removed his head. Marko tried pressing forward on his challenger and was barely able to avoid being disemboweled. His sword work became desperate for a few moments then he regained his composure.

Marko was sweating profusely after ten more minutes of fighting but he slowly took control and once he had removed both of the vampire’s hands he wasted no time in separating him from his head.

Grayson’s troop grouped together and stood facing the still shielded line of mages.

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