The Bane of Existence

Published: 19 Mar 2018

Looking back and forth between the combatants and the three witches Zane tried to decide what he needed to do next. He finally decided it would be best to protect the remaining witches and keep them from attacking his friends while they fought the Rogues. To this end he raised a floor to ceiling shield wall separating the witches from the rest of the room.

As he turned back to the fighting, Zane saw the vampire engaged with Zach take another swipe at his brother with extended nails. Instead of backing away Zach stepped toward the Rogue blocking his arm then punching the vampire in the ribcage. The snapping of bones could be heard over the fighting through the whole room.

Switching his vision to the magical Zane saw a faint golden glow over Zach’s hands up to his elbows and over his feet up to his knees. His brother had magically enhanced the natural speed and power from his martial arts training to match the vampire’s abilities. Zach would be okay for now so Zane turned his attention to the other two battles.

Rogan, who was battling the taller vampire, bit by bit was gaining the upper hand. While he had a few marks and scratches it was nothing compared to the way the Rogues body was crisscrossed with cuts, scratches and bite marks. The tall Rogue had been careless not realizing that his body could not heal from werewolf attacks like they normally could from other vampires and humans.

The tiring Rogue managed to disengage, step back and look down at his body with dismay. He tried a quick healing spell but there was no noticeable difference in the wounds covering his body. The vampire looked up at Rogan with a shocked expression who in turn grinned at the Rogue but with a wolf’s head it looked more menacing than pleasant.

Watching the third battle now Zane saw the injured wolf roll away from his attacker and in quick succession transform from full wolf to war form to human and back to full wolf. The change of forms helped speed the healing process but having to do it so fast prevented a full healing but Radesh’s limp was less pronounced now.

Just as the Rogue rushed him Radesh rose to his feet, skittered to the side sliding his backside around until he was behind the vampire and nipped at his calf taking a hunk of flesh and jeans with him. The Rogue paused to allow his wound to heal and nearly fell when he put his weight on the leg Radesh had bitten.

Taking advantage of the distraction Radesh ignored the pain in his hind leg and leapt onto the puzzled vampire driving him to the floor. The wolf then clamped his jaws around the exposed neck of the struggling Rogue and started shaking it like a terrier with a rat, In a few minutes loud cracks and pops were heard as the vertebrae in the neck were shaken apart and the Rogue went limp.

Drew and Karl walked along the forest path for quite a ways before Karl pulled on Drew’s hand to bring him to a halt. “Wh-what?!” exclaimed a surprised Drew. “Why’d we stop?”

“The trail doesn’t follow the direction of the magic anymore,” explained Karl. “I feel it off that way.” Karl was pointing almost perpendicular to the path they had been on towards the right.

“Oh, man!” exclaimed Drew as he looked at the close set trees and heavy brush in the direction Karl was pointing. “That’s going to suck trying to get through there!”

Karl was thinking along the same lines but said, “You said you’d go the direction I found.”

“I know,” admitted Drew slowly.

“But we can follow the path a little longer while we look for an easier way through,” interrupted Karl with a slight smile at his partner.

Drew turned to face his lover with a huge grin and blurted, “Really! Have I told you recently that I truly love you!”

“I don’t think so,” hedged Karl. “But even if you have I like hearing it over and over.”

The two pulled each other closer and hugged as hard as possible. Karl pushed Drew back, looked into his eyes and stated, “I truly love you, Drew!” Then he placed his hands behind the redhead’s neck and pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss that lasted almost five minutes.

“We better get moving, my hottie.”

“Yeah, cool man. Let’s get walkin’,” Drew agreed taking hold of Karl’s hand again.

After about ten minutes of steady walking the pair saw the path begin to curve to the right then disappeared around a huge boulder and a stand of trees. When they had rounded the curve they found themselves on the other side of the boulder with a clearing through the trees and brush.

“Looks like we can follow your tracking now,” declared Drew taking in their surroundings.

“Yes and this trail now goes in the same direction so we can stay on it.”

“Cool! Let’s go!”

A few minutes later the trail took an upward turn and the couple started up the hillside. Although both Drew and Karl kept themselves in shape it was almost completely inside a gym in the city so the trek uphill began to wind them slightly. Drew used to roam through the woods and hillsides at his childhood home next door to Karl.

The more he reflected on that time of life the easier he found it to trudge on until he stumbled over one particular memory. He had wrecked his bicycle and was walking it home through the woods when he came across two guys wrapped in the throes of passion. Instead of getting angry when they discovered him watching the two older teens helped him get himself and his busted bike home.

Suddenly coming to a halt Drew nearly pulled Karl’s arm out of socket as he realized why he was certain the user of such powerful magic and anger would not harm them. He and Karl had met the guy years ago and had been friendly with him although they had never met again.

“Karl?” inquired Drew pensively. “Do you remember the day I wrecked my bike and those two guys helped me get home?”

“How could I forget?” replied Karl with a smile. “It’s the day we found out we liked each other. Why?”

“Can you remember the names of those two guys?”

“Let’s see . . . umm . . . I think they started with a Z- both of them,” said Karl hesitantly. “Ummm, I think one was . . uh . . Zand . . Zander.”

“That’s right!” exclaimed an excited Drew. “And the other one was Zane! He was the shorter blonde one”

“Yeah! Zane and Zander! But why the sudden interest?”

“It’s them! Or at least one of them that’s the source of the magic we’ve been following,” explained Drew. “I bet they’re both around. Those two would never have split up.”

“Wow! You’re right they would still be together,” agreed Karl. “I wonder how old they’d be now.”

“Still the same, silly,” giggled Drew. “They were vampires. Remember?”

“Yeah, like the ones who keep attacking us,” grumbled Karl.

“No, not the same,” countered Drew. “Feel the difference. Come on. I want to get to the source.”

The black haired young man let his husband pull him up the hill but Karl decided he’d better keep his guard up just in case. With renewed energy from Drew it didn’t the duo long to reach the level area just below the cave entrance.

“Here! This is where it happened,” announced Karl as they walked onto the level area a little over halfway up the hill.

Looking around Drew commented, “I don’t see anybody right now. Wonder where they are?” Reaching out with his magic the fiery redhead was almost overwhelmed with the amount of magic that had been used nearby.

“Zane! Zander!” Karl tentatively called out while turning slowly in a circle.

“Let’s explore!” Drew excitedly spoke starting in first one direction then another.

Grayson’s squad of Marko, Shayn, Gavin and Derek stood facing the group of mages with neither group sure of how to proceed. Grayson and his troop hadn’t had time to check the mages mentally or magically so didn’t know where they stood.

The mages knew the group facing them now was basically good but were still wary of people whose magical and physical prowess had almost effortlessly took out the vampires. The mages had been slightly prepared for such an attack after learning of the existence of Rogues a month ago but were still barely holding their own when the help arrived.

After a few awkward moments Derek phased back to fully human and took a small, slow step forward speaking, “We just came to help. Nothing more. Do you need help with your injured?”

“No, thank you,” said the mage in the dark gray robe that had spoken earlier. “We are quite proficient in healing magic but only recently starting practicing battle spells. Can we heal your inj . . .”

The mage stopped when he noticed Derek’s arm had stopped bleeding and begun to close the wounds. Just like the wolves when he shifted from one form to another it hastened the healing process.

“Do all of you heal that fast?” asked a mage in a heather gray robe stepping closer to the group.

“Actually the rest of us heal much faster,” answered Grayson as the group showed that all their wounds were completely healed and their skin looked like nothing had ever happened. “We are vampires but not Rogues like those. We are at war with them and their leader.”

“Was that you that we felt?” asked one of the injured mages.

“No, that was our leader, Rinaldo’s Child, destroying a Rogue spy and declaring war.” replied Shayn.

“Rinaldo? We have a copy of one of his texts,” said the brown robed mage who had read their auras earlier.

“Good,” returned Grayson gravely. “Study it well. We might be able to supply you with more of his writings, if the Child agrees. We should get back in case we are needed. Take care and be on guard.”

Before joining the group Derek spoke again, “Do you know of other groups of magic users? If you do get in touch with them to warn them and see if they are willing to join the fight against evil.”

The leader of the mages nodded his acceptance of Derek’s request as Grayson gathered his squad and transported them back to their hill.

Rinaldo’s Child kept a close eye on the battles involving his brother, Zach, and the two wolves. Radesh had all but ended his opponent and did after changing back to human form and igniting the body. Having worn his adversary down with numerous unhealable wounds Rogan used two quick swipes with his war form claws to decapitate the Rogue.

Zach continued to spar with his foe but was firmly in control at this point. After two short but powerful jabs to the face Zach executed a quick, hopping front kick that created a good space between the two. Before the Rogue could recover the young human mage brought his wrists together with palms pointed at the vampire and fingers curled into a sort of cup shape and shouted, “Fon in-tandjan!” Fire shot from his outstretched hands engulfing the vampire and in less than two minutes had reduced the threat to ashes. His knees gave way from the exhaustion of blood loss, the physical battle and the amount of magic energy used but Zach had survived his first real one-on-one battle.

Zane was so relieved that the fighting was done and his brother and friends were victorious that he dropped the shield wall separating the witches without realizing it. As Zach tried to regain his feet he stumbled toward the three witches causing the one on the end nearest him to release her spell knocking Zach onto his butt. Thankfully, he had kept his personal shield up and wasn’t hurt by the spell itself.

The wolves went to either side of Zach and helped their young friend to his feet while Zane raised the shield wall back into place and sent calming thoughts to everyone. With tensions lowered Zander knelt down next to the still unconscious wizard and checked his pulse, breathing and looked over his wounds.

“Zane,” Zander spoke up getting his boyfriend’s attention. “He’s in pretty bad shape over here.”

“I’ll see to him after I’ve taken care of Zach,” answered Zane headed toward his brother.

“No,” Zach countered. “I’m just worn out. I’ll be fine.”

At the same time Radesh and Rogan said, “Take care of the young wizard. We can see to Zach.”

While a little miffed at being refuted Zane realized they were correct and turned back towards Zander and the unmoving wizard. Kneeling on the opposite side from Zander, Zane held his hands over the prone boy and ran them over his body. They emited a muted yellow glow as he did his scan for damage.

Once he determined that loss of blood was the boy’s biggest problem Zane brought his hands together, concentrated then took his green glowing hands and held them over each bite and scratch. When the physical wounds had all closed and the skin knit itself together Zane turned his attention to the wizard’s head.

Grasping the boy wizard’s head lightly between his glowing palms Zane gently began removing the pain, then the fear and finally the horror the boy had felt when nightmares had become real. He finished up by filling the wizard’s mind with calming and soothing feelings allowing him to drop into a deep, healing sleep.

Meanwhile, Radesh, Rogan and Zach had knelt at the shield in front of the three girls and began to converse with them.

“I’m sorry about hitting you with that spell,” said the young witch named Janelle. “I was scared when I thought you were coming after us.”

“It’s okay, really,” assured Zach with a slight blush. “The only thing hurt was my . . .”

“Butt!” interrupted one of the other witches named Chelsee giggling.

“Ahh . . . I was going to say pride but . . yeah . . that got hurt too,” admitted Zach blushing even more.

“Back to what you said about being scared of us,” spoke Radesh looking at Janelle. “Don’t you know how to read a person’s aura?”

“An aura?” questioned Bethanne, the third witch. “What’s that?”

Looking at the expressions on the other two faces told the guys that none of the witches knew anything about auras. The three guys quickly explained what an aura was, how to distinguish between good and evil and how to read one then had them practice doing it. Just then, Zane, having finished with the wizard, came up to the two groups seated on the floor.

Looking up at the new arrival still using the magic sight the guys had taught her and her friends Janelle gasped, “Wow! His aura is so green and bright!”

Chelsee and Bethanne were also astonished when they looked Zane’s direction.

“Yeah!” agreed Rogan chuckling. “That’s one of the reasons he is our leader.”

“Sorry to interrupt but we’re going to need to get back soon,” announced Zane apologetically. “The boy is in a deep sleep right now but he will need to see a doctor because of the amount of blood he’s lost. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do for the girl. She was drained completely dry.”

“We can take care of Roger,” Janelle spoke up. “But how are we going to explain about Carol? I don’t know how to handle that.”

“Calm down, Janelle,” soothed Bethanne. “I’ve got this. Just leave it to me and Chelsee. You get Roger to the clinic, okay?”

“Yeah. Okay,” consented Janelle. “I can do that.”

“So, you all can handle things here, right?” inquired Zander joining the group. “Grayson is ready to return home so we need to also.”

“Hey!” Zach interrupted and handed Janelle a card. “This has my email address. Let us know how Roger is and if you know of any other magic using groups tell us about them. Also warn them that a war has started so they need to be on the lookout and learn to defend themselves.”

“Th-thanks for helping us,” stuttered Chelsee with nods of agreement from the other two.

“Gather around, guys,” ordered Zane. “Let’s get home.”

The three witches watched as the five guys joined hands then a minute later disappeared from the room.

With a barely audible ’ping’ Grayson, Marko, Shayn, Gavin and Derek arrived on their hill on the leveled clearing just below the main cave. About a minute or two later Zane, Zander, Radesh, Rogan and Zach also returned with a soft ‘ping.’ The two groups mingled with one another excitedly describing their individual battles as well as how the others in their group fared against their opponents.

Derek and Zach also compared injuries and examined the scars the other had acquired then they hugged tightly each relieved the other had survived. Grayson and Zane compared notes on how each member of their team performed during the fights, then they discussed what they and their friends could do better or different next time and finally they shared what they had learned about the two groups they had gone to help.

At last, the excitement and adrenaline began to run down and the group turned to trudge up the small rise to the cave entrance. They had only taken a few steps when Grayson’s head snapped toward the opening of the cave and hollered, “Halt! Someone’s in the cave!”

Everyone took a defensive stance and readied themselves for another confrontation. Just then two figures stepped out of the darkness of the cave; one with raven black hair and ice blue eyes and the other with flaming hair and silvery gray eyes.

Grayson and Shayn prepared spells, Rogan and Radesh changed to war forms, Gavin grew and Zander wielded his sword while Zane peered intently at the two interlopers. Seeing the reactions of the group below them, the two from the cave took measures to defend themselves.

All at once the hillside exploded as spells were released and combatants charged. Recognition dawned on Zane and he screamed, “NO!”

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