The Bane of Existence

Published: 29 May 2017

“WHAT!!!” yelled Matt and Jordan with Jordan jumping up as he did.

Thomas stepped in front of Zane and Duncan in front of Zander to protect their friends and brothers from their dad’s cousins.

“Uncle Matt! Uncle Jordan!” Duncan spoke forcefully without raising his voice.

“You promised to listen!” added Thomas in the same tone and volume as his older brother.

Jordan stared at the boys having trouble comprehending why they would defend these two vampires while they had been hell-bent on destroying the other one. Matt on the other hand took the time to process the stances and overall body language shown by Duncan and Thomas and to remember what he knew of the Z’s from years ago as well as how Zane spoke about the boys.

He took hold of Jordan’s arm and gently pulled him back down to sit, “Let’s hear them out. If they wanted to do harm they could have already.”

Jordan studied Matt’s face before nodding and relaxing back on the loveseat next to his husband. Then he slid the arm Matt had ahold of down until he could entwine his fingers in Matt’s.

“Sorry, guys. I’m ready to listen now,” a much calmer Jordan said. “I do want to know one thing first. Were you both vampires when you were here before?”

“Yes, we were,” answered Zander then he gave the floor to Zane who explained about the differences between them and the Rogues and about everything else that was going on. When he had finished Duncan and Thomas practically vibrated and hummed with excitement.

“We can go with you and learn to fight with magic!” exclaimed an eager Duncan.

“Yeah! We’ll be part of your army for good!” asserted an equally enthusiastic Thomas.

“Whoa, boys!” interrupted Matt. “Before you go off makin’ plans we need to discuss this and if possible reach your dad.”

“Actually, there isn’t much to discuss,” Zane said to the four humans. “I’ll tell you the same deal I have with my other half-brother’s adopted brother who is eighteen but still in school. School comes first. You have to graduate before you can join.”

“Ah, man! That sucks!” Duncan blurted out.

“At least you just have a few months,” sulked Thomas crossing his arms over his chest. “It could be finished before I get a chance to help.”

“On the bright side I will start teaching you spells you can use for fighting,” inserted Zane with a slight smile, “Bothof you.”

“Yes!!” bellowed both boys with Thomas adding a fist pump for emphasis.

“Also, if it is okay with Matt and/or your dad you can come train with us whenever school is out,” Zander added. “His other brothers’ get to do that so you will too.”

“Why teach and train them if there is a chance they won’t get involved with the war between you and the Bane?” asked Jordan out of curiosity.

“Because there is a good chance that the Bane or one of her Rogues will come after the boys again,” admitted Zane reluctantly. “I want them able to handle themselves in a fight. You two should get yourselves ready too.”

“That makes sense,” agreed Jordan with Matt nodding along.

“We’ve both taken aikido and have real swords handy,” Matt revealed. “We will have to practice more often now.”

“Good! We need to get going before they realize we aren’t there and panic,” said Zane rising to his feet and pulling Zander up with him. “But first, Duncan, Thomas, do you remember the words I used when I first arrived here?”

“Yeah, I think so,” answered Duncan. Thomas nodded hesitantly.

“Fon means fire and in-tandjan means burn up,” explained Zane. “Together they’re used to cause something to be burnt by fire but won’t burn anything else. You practice that until you have complete control of the fire.”

“Okay, bro,” agreed Duncan. “You got it, Zane,” Thomas chimed in.

Both of them got up and hugged Zane and Zander in thanks and farewell. Matt and Jordan also rose from their seats to accompany the Z’s to the front door.

As they walked to the door Zane spoke to the two adults, “If you have a fire pit outside or can build one easily that would be the best place for them to start practicing that spell. When they have pretty good control let them try it on a fireplace inside. With full control they should be able to light a candle without burning anything around it.”

“Right,” said Matt then he turned to the vampires and asked, “I do have one more question. You kept mentioning a Rinaldo. That sounds awfully close to Beldane and the boys’ last name, Renoldo. Is that a coincidence?”

“No, it isn’t. They are direct descendants of the Romani mage-master Rinaldo. They have Rinaldo blood from both parents which is why they were able to use magic at a young age. Zander and I better get going. It was good to see you and Jordan again.”

“It was good to see you and Zander again too. We’ll take good care of your brothers. Come again.”

The four shook hands all around then Zane and Zander were out the door and headed down the street towards home. When they were out of sight the two switched to vampire speed and were soon well away from Pattyville. Once they were running through the woods Zander turned his head to Zane and wandered, “Why aren’t we teleporting back?”

“I don’t think I could get us there,” replied Zane honestly. “All the magic use has taken a lot out of me. That tight beam to stay secure used a lot of energy even with all of you helping. I need to feed soon. Hunt with me?”

“I’ll hunt with you anytime, my love. What do you have a taste for?”

“Any mammal we can find but a predator would really hit the spot right now.”

The two young-looking vampires laughed as they ran on keeping their eyes, ears and noses alert for prey. About thirty minutes later they lucked upon a couple of coyotes stalking a herd of sheep and took them out before they managed to scare the herd into scattering. Feeling much better Zane told Zander he could ‘port them into their room in the cave when they got closer.

The chocolate-eyed vamp agreed that would be best and they were off on the run again. Once they were back home Zane hugged Zander close and whispered how much fun it was to run with him. Zander kissed the top of the shorter teen’s head and whispered back that they needed to do it more often. Zane agreed then hand in hand they went to see how the others were coming with recuperating from the stresses of extreme magical energy use.

In the basement of an old dilapidated, abandoned two-story house on the edge of the city of Hinkle, Virginia the quiet of the darkness was shattered along with an old wooden table. The word of power that was spat out as a woman with long black hair and green eyes rimmed in purple slammed her hand down caused the shattering of the table and sent splinters flying to the farthest corners. Her outburst of rage had the Rogue and Ancient vampires fleeing the room for safety.

The beautiful, raven-haired woman who called herself Rinaldo’s Bane was livid at being blocked in her plans by that little, upstart of a vampire she had the misfortune to give birth to. Again! How had Rinaldo’s Child known of his half-siblings? Even more, how had he been able to find them faster than she did?

As she calmed down she realized that the two boys had recognized the Child’s mental voice and answered him. They already knew each other somehow. That was the only answer. The younger two of her three sons had joined with the Child and Samhain’s Son and were lost to her.

Her last hope lay in the Rogue she had sent after them through the slipstream created by the teleportation spell. But that had been almost a week ago and she hadn’t heard from him yet.

All Zane’s and Zander’s companions recovered quickly and completely and were back to training hard the next week. The group continued to train together for the next month. After Christmas, Duncan and Thomas joined them and were introduced to the other members of the group.

Duncan and Derek eyed each other intensely for several minutes then broke into laughter. The two eighteen year olds had been trying to peek inside the other’s mind and found them blocked. When the laughter died away the two looked the other in the eye then as one they nodded and opened their minds to each other.

“A cougar!? Really?” exclaimed Duncan loudly. “Cool!”

“Yeah,” replied Derek with a slight blush. “But I haven’t been able to make a complete shift yet.”

“It’s still cool,” insisted Duncan. “I’ve never met anyone who can shapeshift.”

Derek started chuckling before he revealed, “Yeah, you have. See those two?” Derek pointed over where Radesh and Rogan were sitting. “They shapeshift. They’re werewolves.”

“What!” Duncan tumbled over the rock he was sitting on trying to back away.

Laughing outright Derek pulled his new friend back to his feet and got him settled on the rock. “Relax. They’re on our side. Besides you have a vampire for a brother and you worry about werewolves?”

Duncan chuckled then over his own reaction, “You’ve got a point there. Guess it was the shock. It gets worse. The Bane is my mom-well-our mom.”

“That don’t matter,” assured Derek. “She’s Zane’s mom too. What matters is what’s in your heart.” Derek poked the teen in the center of his chest for emphasis.

“I guess,” Duncan agreed uncertainly.

“Hey! Why don’t you train with us while you’re here?” suggested Derek with excitement. “Radesh and Rogan are helping me learn to shift but they know lots of magic too.”

“Okay,” Duncan said brightening up at the thought of learning from his new friends.

Meanwhile, Thomas couldn’t stop staring at Shayn and Gavin and wanting to get closer especially to Shayn. He couldn’t understand why he was drawn to the other pair of vampires but he still found himself edging their direction whenever he could.

Shayn and Zane both had noticed and knew it was a vampire thing that made Thomas drawn to the young looking vampire. After a moment of peeking into Thomas’ mind they found there was more to it that that. Thomas’ magical leanings were an almost perfect match to Shayn’s. A look of understanding and agreement passed between the good friends and Shayn beckoned Thomas over. He went over without the slightest hesitation then wondered why he had since he had just now met Shayn. Thomas shook his head in confusion.

“Agree to study with Gavin and I and I’ll tell you what just happened,” offered Shayn with a grin.

Thomas thought it over and figured since he trusted his brother, Zane, and Zane trusted these guys then it should be okay. “Sure. Okay.”

“Good! What you’re feeling is the effects of vampire charm,” advised Shayn in a calm, friendly tone. “You are also even more drawn to me because we think of and use our magic in similar ways. So, your magic is wanting to join with mine. We will work well together.”

“It’s good to know the reason for how I’ve been feeling,” relayed Thomas with relief. “I was about to freak out.”

“Well, we wouldn’t want that,” Gavin spoke for the first time to Thomas. “It looks like your brother is getting chummy with the animals.”

Thomas glanced in the direction of Gavin’s gaze and saw Duncan chatting with three guys; two looked to be in their twenties and the third could Duncan’s age. “Why do you call them the animals? They look alright to me.”

Gavin guffawed before answering, “See the two older ones with the dark hair, dark eyes and olive complexions?”

Thomas looked again then nodded to Gavin.

“Those two are werewolves from Eastern Europe. The younger one uses a totem spirit to shift into a cougar,” explained Gavin. “Although so far he has only been able to shift front and back paws. See, I wasn’t being derogatory just descriptive when I call them the animals. All three are helluva fighters.”

The fifteen year old stared where Duncan stood still talking excitedly with the three mentioned by Gavin. He was deep in thought then asked, “Is Duncan going to change into an animal, too?”

“No,” answered Shayn.

“Then why would he join with them to train?” a confused Thomas questioned.

The two werewolves, Rogan and Radesh, are also highly trained Romani mages from one of Rinaldo’s select villages,” Shayn replied again. “Don’t worry. He’s in good hands.”

“Okay, that’s good,” stated Thomas after a couple of seconds. “When can we start? I’ve only got a week before I have to go back home.”

“Let’s go find us a spot outside, you show us what you already know and we’ll go from there,” said Gavin as he turned and headed out of the cave. Thomas followed him with Shayn bringing up the rear.

A few minutes later Duncan, Derek, Rogan and Radesh emerged from the cave and went the other way down the hill. The brothers’ training had officially begun. Neither was prepared for how hard they were pushed by their respective teachers and were struggling to stay on their feet by the second day.

Fortunately Zane and Zander were watching out for their brothers and had a talk with their teachers. Zane reminded them that these two were only human and had to have breaks and food more often than vampires or werewolves. Even Derek could pull extra energy from his totem spirit when needed but Duncan and Thomas had nothing to fall back on.

The instructors thanked Zane and Zander then apologized to Duncan and Thomas along with high praises for having not complained. By the time the two human brothers were ready to leave on New Year’s Eve day their bodies were much fitter than when they arrived and their magical abilities had reached new heights. They left with Zane and Zander accompanying them promising to return at spring break.

The Z’s returned quickly after delivering the boys to their uncles and relaying how well they had done. The next day when the group of Zane, Zander, Shayn, Gavin, Rogan and Radesh took a midday break several comments mentioned missing the young humans. After about the sixth mention all of them looked at each other and started laughing.

“Two of them will be back tomorrow afternoon,” Zander reminded them.

“Yeah but what do we do until then?” asked Gavin.

“What about a free for all?” suggested Radesh. “That’s what we would do in our village when it was too quiet.”

“Yes!” hollered Rogan. “With no humans we won’t have to hold back so much. Just enough not to kill one another!”

“Okay! So how will we do this?” queried Zane getting into the spirit. “Six individuals or keep our normal pairings since there’s three couples here?”

“Normally, in our village, it’s every wolf for himself and we go until no one can move,” advised Radesh. “But we don’t want to completely exhaust ourselves now, just in case. So, why don’t we have two timed games; the first, six individuals then after a break we go couple to couple to couple. That way we get practice fighting on our own and with our partners.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Zander with the others nodding in agreement.

“How long are we going to go and how will we time it with everyone participating?” questioned Shayn while limbering his body in anticipation.

“One hour should be good for the individual free for all with a half hour break then say two hours for the coupled game,” offered Rogan.

“I know how to do a timed spell that will go off like fireworks,” Zane piped up. “That will get our attention anywhere on the hill without arousing suspicion since it’s New Year’s.”

“You stay here, Zane, and set up the timed spell,” directed Radesh. “Everyone else spread out around the hill. When you have the spell ready, Zane, set off an explosion and that will start the game.”

Amid a chorus of yeahs and okays everyone took off to secure a starting place and wait for the signal to begin. Zane took a few minutes to make the timed explosion spell just right then he stood up and sent a large fireball into the sky. It exploded into a myriad of brightly colored sparks announcing the start of the free for all.

Zane laughed at the loud, “Yee haw!” he heard from Gavin reverberate through the air. He turned and in three steps was at full speed before using magic to aid his leap to the top of one of the tallest trees in front of him.

Just as he disappeared into the foliage Zane caught a glimpse of Rogan streaking underneath in wolf form. That was why Zane was in such a hurry to reach the trees, he knew at least one would come after him since he was the only one whose position was known.

Less than a minute later Gavin in his giant form passed close by as well trying to find the small blonde vampire. Not long after that Zane’s boyfriend who knew him best came traveling through the lower branches of the trees.

Zane remained mentally and physically silent letting the others tire themselves out trying to figure out where he went. Good thing he did because Shayn did his looking with his mind.

It was just what Zane had expected when they all agreed to play this game. Everyone wanted to be the one to get the drop on Rinaldo’s Child. Well then, they had their work cut out for them. Zane had plans of his own for this game.

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

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