The Bane of Existence

Published: 13 Aug 2018

A week after the guys chose a name for their small but slowly growing group, the same sky blue Toyota Camry Hybrid from earlier in the summer pulled into the driveway of the house where the human members of Z-Troop lived. Thomas Renoldo was not a happy camper to see his and Duncan’s guardians arriving so soon. He was supposed to have another week before he had to go back to Tennessee to get ready for the new school year.

Jordan Knight-Warner laughed when he saw the look plastered on his young charge’s face as he came down the steps of the house. “Don’t give us that look,” he called out crossing the yard. “You still have another week before you have to leave.”

His husband Matt also chuckled as he added, “We were invited to train with you all so we used some of our vacation time to spend the week here before we take you back.”

“Cool!” exclaimed the soon to be sixteen year old as the sour facial expression was replaced with a grin. “Do you need to go run after being cooped up in the car for so long?”

“Yeah, but give a few minutes to stretch and get our stuff settled first,” answered Jordan returning to the car to retrieve a medium sized suitcase from the trunk of the Camry.

Zach showed the two men to the room they would use while they trained with Z-Troop then he and Derek changed into running clothes to join Matt, Jordan, Thomas and Duncan. Drew and Karl bowed out saying that since it was their turn to cook they would have dinner ready when the joggers returned.

The next morning everyone gathered outside the main cave to divide into training groups. Grayson and Marko took the two newcomers aside to see how well they handled their swords. The sparring lasted for several minutes and garnered the attention of all that were within sight.

With the show over and Grayson leading the foursome in slow, meticulous forms the others returned to their own training exercises. When Zane called for a break about mid-morning Drew and Karl were privately relieved to see they weren’t gasping for breath as badly as Matt and Jordan. It let them know they were making progress toward being as fit and tough as the others in Z-Troop.

As for Matt and Jordan they weren’t bothered at all by being the least fit. They were neither vampires nor did they have the use of magic to keep themselves young. Downing a bottle of water each from the small cooler they brought with them the pair declared themselves ready to continue with the workouts.

This time it was Zander and Gavin who sparred with the couple then led them through additional sets of forms since they had learned a different style of sword fighting. Drew and Karl were fascinated by the fencing skills shown by the six they had seen during the morning’s training sessions. When lunch break was called they approached Zane to ask if anyone could learn to use swords like those they had watched this morning. Derek and Zach listened in and voiced their interest in learning also.

While those who needed to ate their lunches Zane asked, “Who all wants to study sword fighting?”

Only Rogan and Radesh answered in the negative while Thomas and Duncan revealed they were already being taught by their guardians and had their own swords at the house where they were staying for the summer.

“We have a couple of extra swords,” announced Grayson nodding to Marko in answer to his quizzical look. The young vampire left to retrieve their extra weapons followed by the teenage humans.

“We brought extra with us, too,” chimed in Shayn rising to collect theirs from the lower cave he and Gavin were living in.

Within a few minutes everyone had a sword in hand except for the wolves and Zane. Radesh and Rogan piped up, “This will give us a chance to run a patrol then do some hunting as wolves.”

“What about Zane?” queried Thomas. “He doesn’t have a sword.”

“Not a problem,” replied Zane with concentration written over his face. In a short time he held his hands as if they were wrapped around the hilt of a sword and a green glimmering blade arose from the silver-colored hilt now between his hands.

Everyone was set to begin training with swords. Grayson lined the guys up with the experienced swordsmen in the front and the newbies in the back.Thomas and Duncan tried to get in the front line but their guardians, Matt and Jordan, moved them to the back reminding them that they had only started practicing right before summer break.

Grayson, Marko, Zander and Gavin checked the hand grips and stances of the four just beginning to learn swordsmanship. Once everyone was checked and ready Grayson asked a few of the seasoned fighters to lead the group in one of their favorite beginner level forms.

After an hour of slowly going through forms from Marko, Zander, Gavin and Shayn, Drew and Karl’s shoulders down to fingertips ached so bad they were about to cramp. Thomas and Duncan weren’t in any better shape since they hadn’t practiced since early June.

Sensing the relief emanating from the foursome when break was called Grayson found a way to give them some rest while furthering their education and keeping the others busy.

“Let’s show the young beginners how all this fits together,” stated Grayson rising to his feet after the pause. “Pair up and spar so they can see the techniques in action.”

For the next hour and a half the guys of Z-Troop sparred with various partners while Thomas, Duncan, Drew and Karl watched with fascination. It was particularly exciting when a well-matched pair went against one another and the swords would almost be a blur. When time was called it was getting late and those living at the house hiked through the woods with their sheathed swords either hanging from their waists or extended above a shoulder.

The rest of the week was much the same; training in martial arts and magic before lunch and training with the swords after lunch. Once they had watched the sparring for a couple of days Grayson started leading the novices in slow, deliberate sparring against their partner. Each day they were able to go faster and faster.

Near the end of the week, Marko finally got his chance to spar with his old friend, Zane. He had been looking forward to this for the whole week. The two friends saluted with their swords and dropped into ready stances..At the signal Marko pressed the attack at full speed causing Zane to back up as he parried furiously.

Very quickly Zane found a chance to side step Marko’s advance and turned the tables on him pressing Zane’s own offensive assault. Marko backpedaled while defending himself until he was able to brace his feet and stand his ground. From that point the two opponents traded blows at an ever increasing pace and the space they covered expanded along with the pace.

The blows delivered also increased in power as they fought harder and harder. Things came to a head when Marko and Zane both stepped forward and swung with everything they had. Their swords met with such speed, strength and power that Zane’s magically made blade snapped Marko’s katana in two and continued on its trajectory toward Marko’s neck.

There were several gasps of horror from many of the ones who had stopped their own sparring to watch the epic battle when they realized Marko was in mortal danger. A second or two before the sword would have separated Marko’s head from his body it winked out of existence. A huge collective sigh of relief could be heard around the clearing.

Only Marko, who had complete trust in his friend, did not react. He only had eyes for the piece of broken sword in his hand. It was the sword presented to him by his father when he had completed his training and was his favorite weapon by far.

A silent call went from Zane to Zander as he watched Marko stare hopelessly at his ruined blade. Zander stepped to his boyfriend’s side as Zane retrieved the top of the katana from the ground then gently took the hilt end from the distraught forever eighteen vampire.

He handed the two pieces to Zander to hold and carefully aligned the two parts. While Zander held the broken pieces steady Zane placed his hands on either side of the blade on top of the break. Zane closed his eyes in concentration then spoke the word, “Mend.” A bluish light illuminated the sword and Zane’s hands for about a minute then dissipated. Gasps of amazement escaped from several of the troopers when Rinaldo’s Child’s hands moved from the katana showing it to be in one piece once again.

“I thought you had to use words from a special language to do magic!” exclaimed Derek loudly.

“I did, too,” agreed Duncan. “Dad spent a lot of time teaching us how to pronounce the spell words in the books we had.”

“For sure,” Thomas added his sentiments to his brother’s.

“I think we were all taught using the ancient languages,” Zander spoke up. “I know I was.”

“Those were simply the languages used by the people of that time when magic spells and incantations were being formally taught,” Grayson intoned in lecture mode. “Drew, did you learn the same words as these guys?”

“No. Mom’s book was written in a very old Celtic language.”

“Exactly!” proclaimed Grayson. “Each was taught and written in the same language that was spoken at that time. The words are used to help the mage focus the magic. Beginners usually find it easier to focus when they use an unfamiliar language. Zane has moved beyond that and can use his own language or even not use a spoken word at all.”

“So, could any of us do that?” asked Zach hopefully.

“I think all of you here are capable of doing it,” answered Zane joining the conversation. “Maybe we should start practicing at the next training time.”

“Cool!” “All Right!” “Great!” exclaimed many in Z-Troop all at once.

Although Erika, Lady Bane, noticed an improvement in the calamity her squads spread over the area of their attacks it was still not enough to satisfy her urge to destroy. It appeared as though the various groups of magic users she targeted knew about Rogues and were better prepared for the onslaughts reducing the amount of destruction created. She needed to make the vampires training even tougher.

Calling upon the three Ancient vampires again, Erika demanded they find fiercer instructors and devise a strategy that would cause her nemesis, Rinaldo’s Child, more grief or face the consequences. The Ancients bowed their acknowledgement and acceptance of her command and hurried from the room.

The three quickly gathered all the trainers and apprised them of the situation and the Bane’s commands. They went on to explain that the current trainers could increase the ferociousness of their classes or be replaced. If they had to be replaced they would be sent on a suicide mission or suffer a drawn out, pain-filled death.

The instructors’ ruthlessness reached unheard of heights and it became somewhat common for a struggling vampire student to be burned on the spot and a newly turned leech put in its place. This caused both a lessening and an increase in morale. Among the vampires wrangling for a coveted position with a squad morale was reaching an all time low while those who passed and received one of those slots had high morale from a feeling of accomplishment at having survived the training.

Along with the heightened training the Ancients met together along with a few of the enhanced Rogues to plan new strategies to cause more havoc. After discussing many options, they settled on using more than one squad for each attack having one squad initiate the assault while one or more stayed in reserve to join just when their enemy felt they were on the verge of victory. They were certain this would solve the problem and get Lady Bane off their backs.

It had been about four weeks since Thomas, Matthew and Jordan left to go back to Tennessee so Thomas could start the new school year. Rinaldo’s Child’s Z-Troop had continued to train everyone on swordsmanship and casting spells using English words or no spoken words at all. A little after they had returned to working after their lunch break Duncan suddenly stood straight up and got still as a statue. About fifteen seconds later a long, wailing, “N-o-o-o-o,” escaped his lips just before he winked out of sight.

Everyone was stunned for a microsecond then Zane went into action. “Zander, Radesh, Rogan, to me. We’re headed to Tennessee now!” commanded Zane moving to a central location. “Grayson, gather the rest and be ready to follow if needed.” Getting a nod from Grayson Zane checked the three accompanying him and as soon as they were close enough he transported them to where he could feel Duncan and Thomas were.

When they arrived Zane found Duncan standing alone looking back and forth between two groups. In one group stood Thomas with several other teens beside and behind him. They were faced off against a squad of Rogue vampires. The other group was Matt and Jordan back to back brandishing their swords surrounded by another squad of Rogues ready to attack.

At first, Zane was unsure who to give aid to and who to leave to fend for themselves. Before he could make a decision two of the vampires threatening the teens launch energy balls at Thomas’ group. Thankfully, Thomas had his shields up protecting his friends. Thomas spoke low and urgently to a couple of the kids with him and one finally launched a small fireball at the Rogues. As he watched it easily blocked, Zane knew the teens needed help the most.

Zander erased Zane’s guilty thoughts with a quick message, ‘Go help Thomas. I’ll get Duncan and join Matt and Jor.’

‘Thank you,’ Zane sent back as he moved toward the teens. As he did the Rogues unleashed another attack at the gathered teens striking Thomas’ shield repeatedly with both energy and fire balls. The constant bombardment began to weaken the shield so Zane began to increase his speed then he saw one of the teenage boys standing beside and partially behind Thomas put his hand on Thomas’ shoulder. The shield instantly strengthened.

Another of the teens exclaimed, “There come some more!” while pointing at Zane and his protectors. Thomas snuck a look where the boy indicated and gave a small smile, “It’s okay! That’s my brother!”

“I see Duncan but there are three others coming toward us!” returned the teen.

Zane along with Radesh and Rogan changed directions preparing to assault the group of vampires just as Thomas and his friend had their exchange.

“Crap!” yelled another of the teens, a brunette girl. “There’s now two wolves with that blonde guy!”

“Don’t worry,” assured Thomas. “They’re on our side. Just watch!”

The wolves split apart and raced around to flank the squad of Rogues while Zane continued straight at them increasing his speed as he approached. Zane caught their attention as he raced toward them. The black headed Rogue in front raised his hands in Zane’s direction and cast a spell.

A large ball of dark energy flowed from his hands aimed directly for the small blonde vampire. Just before impact it suddenly came to a halt and slowly faded out with a slight hint of a green glow. Zane’s speed surged until he was nearly a blur as he reached the startled gang of Rogues his hand flashed out snapping the neck of the first vampire. The rest were knocked down or back to varying degrees.

Before they could regroup the two wolves descended and ripped the throats out of two that had hit the ground from Zane’s pass through them. As Zane turned to make another pass, the seven remaining Rogues scattered with five heading for the assembled teenagers and two being stalked by Radesh and Rogan.

While this was happening, the squad surrounding Matt and Jordan attacked en masse before Zander and Duncan could reach them. They watched dismayed as the two humans disappeared from sight behind a wall of vampires. Closer inspection showed two swords flashing in the midst as Matt and Jor tried to hold off the horde.

Zander rushed into the fray slashing the back of one Rogue gaining its attention and two of his mates. Duncan blasted another with magic and was quickly in a duel with a black haired vampire. That left six still engulfing Matt and Jor

The number dropped by two as Matt decapitated one directly in front of him and Jordan gutted another then took off his head as the Rogue doubled over. A tall, rangy vampire that had been hanging back from the mix used his long reach to rake sharp nails down Jordan’s back and side.

Hearing his husband’s pain-filled shriek Matt turned and lopped off the Rogue’s arm but left himself open to the others that had been facing him. Jordan quickly recovered from the painful wound using an uppercut to remove the howling vampire’s head. He then faced the last Rogue on his side of the fight.

Zander, during this time, had dispatched two of his opponents with his sword and the last bit of the third one had just turned to ashes from a fireball. After an exhausting magical battle, Duncan had finally demolished his adversary and dropped to knee to catch his breath.

With no help, the Rogue facing Jordan was outclassed by the flashing blade and soon lost his head when he turned to flee.

The three’s attention switched to the last bit of fighting with horror as Matt was knocked to the ground on his side. One Rogue attached to his back by his teeth and the other standing over him.

Are you enjoying Jeikor’s tale? Let him know you are reading: Jeikor at CastleRoland dot Net

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