The Bane of Existence

Published: 24 July 2017

By Wednesday Zane and Zander had finally convinced the other four to include them in the training rotation. The two continued to stay mentally connected as much as possible and were getting more proficient at it daily. In fact, by Friday, they were so good at it that the others were mystified how one of them would make a comment or suggestion about the training that they weren’t present for.

That afternoon the six friends were relaxing during a break while waiting for Zach and Derek to arrive. They were sitting outside the cave in the weak sunshine rehashing the day’s activities when four vampires burst out of the woods below them at full speed. All six jumped to their feet in readiness.

‘Do you know them?‘ Shayn asked mind to mind including everyone.

‘No,‘ was the answer from all five of the others.

Zane pushed his consciousness to cover the entire hill and found four more coming over the top of the hill.

‘There are more coming behind us,‘ he sent out to his companions. ‘Shayn, Gavin and Radesh turn and take the ones coming down the hill. Rogan, Zander and I will take the four coming up the hill. Be careful!‘

Marko wiped the blood from his sword on the jacket of the last vampire he beheaded and remarked, “I wonder what stirred these guys up. They aren’t really Rogues at all. No magic! No discipline from the training!”

“I have no idea,” answered Grayson hiding his now clean katana inside his trench coat. “Something sure had them going though. I’m glad we came through when we did or it could have been really bad.”

“At this rate, it’ll take us forever to see if I’m right about that magical signature,” Marko complained as he shrunk his sword back into a hunting knife and placed it in the sheath at his waist. “Well! I’m ready! Shall we take off again?”

Grayson nodded as he fastened one last button on his coat and together father and son raced away.

Shayn and his group moved up the hill and to the side to where their training flat was to wait on the Rogues approaching from the top. Zane and his partners waited where they were since they already had an advantage.

After a moment Rogan could wait no longer and with a snarl tore down the hill in his war form to start the attack. Moving at lightening speed Rogan expected to get a quick slash in before the brute in front knew what hit him. Rogan was dumbfounded to find himself flying backwards with a bruise forming on the side of his head where the Rogue had backhanded him with blinding speed.

The werewolf landed with a thud and was momentarily dazed while the lead Rogue didn’t even slow down. He grunted at the two behind and they turned to finish off Rogan. Zane narrowed his eyes, raised his right fist to chest level and flicked his fingers out. The vampire closest to Rogan was flung to the bottom of the hill. Now, Rogan would only have to face one Rogue while he recovered.

The fourth member of the attacking group growled angrily at Zane and made an overhead hurling motion with both hands. The small blonde vampire felt the force of the blast but his shields held firm. Beside him Zander drew the small knife from its hiding place and braced for battle.

The big brute of a Rogue sneered when he saw the knife in Zander’s hand. What he did not see as the brunette vampire feinted one direction then went in the other was the slim sword it grew into. He felt it though as Zander made a shallow slash along the Rogue’s chest and side. Then Zander kicked back just above the back of the brute’s knee sending him to the ground for the moment.

On his side, Zane spun away from his boyfriend grabbing the arm of the Rogue coming at him and tossed him away. The Rogue twisted in the air and landed on his feet facing Zane his face a mask of hatred. The young vampire had not expected to do any damage but the toss accomplished his objective of creating fighting space that was away from the other struggle.

Rogan had barely scrambled to his feet when the Rogue that had been the furthest away finally reached him. He barely blocked the first punch but missed the second and grunted as pain shot through his right shoulder. Luckily, werewolves heal almost as fast as vampires and Rogan was ready to fight back before the Rogue launched his next attack.

The other set of attacking Rogues were farther away and approached cautiously after seeing the initial exchanges of the first group. When they were about twenty yards away one of the Rogues in front made a throwing motion at Shayn’s band. He extended his shield to cover all three and was knocked onto his butt by the power of the blast but he was successful in protecting his friends.

Radesh reached down and pulled Shayn to his feet before dropping into his wolf form and dashing between the two front Rogues. Racing past the next two, he managed to dodge kicks from both of the Rogues then turned and came at them from behind.

Shayn and Gavin joined forces and sent a blast of magic at the Rogues stopping the front two enough to cause the back two to run into them causing confusion. Radesh took the opportunity to take a hunk out of the leg of the one to the left then had to skitter out of the way before one of them fell on him.

By the time three of the four made it to their feet Shayn and Gavin had moved apart and were poised for battle. Before the fourth could struggle to his feet Radesh rushed in again and bit into his side and raked claws across his abdomen. The wolf wasn’t quick enough getting out this time and caught a foot on his hip from the other Rogue. Yelping in pain Radesh limped out of range then morphed into his war form looking more like the movie version of a werewolf.

Shayn and the Rogue who faced off against him sent similar spells at the same time at each other. The resulting detonation lifted both of them into the air, knocked the injured Rogue that just made his feet back to the ground and caused the other three combatants to brace themselves.

Regaining their footing, Gavin and the tall Rogue across from him made their opening moves. The Rogue started an incantation and just as he tossed it Gavin ducked easily under the energy sphere. Continuing his forward motion Gavin slammed his shoulder into the Rogue’s midsection bashing him to the ground with bruised ribs.

Facing off against his Rogue opponent Zane blocked two more spells then stood with his hands down to his sides with palms open. The Rogue grinned maliciously thinking he had worn his opponent down and his next spell would finish the small vampire in front of him. He made a big show of creating a large powerful pulsating sphere filled with purple lightnings.

A split second before he was ready to push the mass across the green glow that had been in Zane’s eyes since the fight began spread over his whole body. With a triumphant growl the Rogue shoved the swirling mass into Zane where it stuck against the green glow. Where the purple and green energies met there were sparks and bolts flying all around and slowly but surely the violet sphere was absorbed into the green which became more intense.

Zander and the big brute circled each other warily looking for an opening and waiting for the other to make the first move. The Rogue was giving his body time to heal the cuts from the last encounter and Zander didn’t want to press forward against a larger foe without learning his style of fighting.

The brute decided he had healed enough and rushed in. Far from catching Zander asleep after a flurry of moves the brute stepped out of range again with several more cuts and slashes on his arms and one on his left leg. Barely giving his wounds time to close the brutish Rogue murmured a spell causing his arms to elongate. He now resembled an orangutan and was just as stout.

Gavin and his adversary exchanged blows with neither gaining an advantage over the other. After several times of this type of exchange Gavin tried to get an edge and subvocalized the spell triggering his giant form. The Rogue scarcely was able to avoid blows directed at him by his over-sized enemy before he uttered the same incantation. Again the two were evenly matched.

Rogan battled gamely with the Rogue and was slowly gaining the upperhand when the one Zane had knocked away from him joined in. Thanks to the cross-training they had been doing Rogan knew some strategies to deal with multiple opponents but he was still losing ground inch by inch. They had just managed to trap Rogan between them when one of them went down in a tawny blur.

Zach and Derek had emerged from the thick forest at that moment. Derek couldn’t stand to see anyone ganged up on but this was a friend and mentor. He didn’t hesitate to attack. The Rogue never knew what hit it and in short order had been ripped into pieces.

Zach took the time to contact his brother to find out what was happening and if these really were enemies.

Zane answered immediately, ‘Yes, this is a real attack. If you don’t already know them take them out. Be careful!‘

‘Too late to worry about being careful and good thing they are enemies ’cause Derek done took one apart.‘ With that Zach moved up the hill toward the rest of the struggles.

Back on their feet after the explosion from their opposing spells Shayn and his challenger fired spell after spell at each other with very little effect. Shayn moved closer whenever he could until he was in range for a physical attack. He assailed the Rogue with such fury that Shayn soon had him reeling and unable to launch a useful defense. With his final strike Shayn added a force spell that left the Rogue stretched out on the ground unconscious.

Shayn’s back was toward Gavin and his battle and didn’t see that they had moved closer to where he was. The Rogue entrenched against Gavin saw the blow Shayn delivered to his cohort and took the opportunity for some payback. Before Gavin figured out what he was doing and could prevent it the Rogue landed a backhanded punch to the center of Shayn’s back.

The loud crack told everyone nearby that Shayn’s back had been broken and he crumpled to the ground not far from the Rogue injured by Radesh. That Rogue saw it as his chance to get back at one of them and pulled himself closer.

Radesh saw but couldn’t extract himself from his battle with the other Rogue in order to help. Zach also noticed and increased his speed as he climbed the hill. He still had a ways to go when he saw the Rogue start an incantation aimed at his helpless friend. Zach paused long enough to put a shield around Shayn; it was done hastily and wouldn’t last long but should last long enough.

The injured Rogue was disappointed when his spell had no effect on the dirty blonde vampire laying near him. He tried crawling close enough to physically harm the young vampire. Zach’s shield held long enough for Radesh to create some separation between him and the other Rogue. He was ready to try what he’d been taught and practiced in their training sessions.

He focused his thoughts, formed the words he needed in his head, grunted, and held out his hand. A small ball of fire formed and flew at the Rogue trying to get to Shayn. His screams of pain that ended after a few minutes were evidence that Radesh had successfully used a spell while in his war form. It had always been thought impossible but the vampires argued the wolves should be able to cast from any form.

His elation was short lived as the other Rogue was closing in again. Zach also spotted this happening and being much closer now although maintaining a discrete distance sent a small energy ball at the approaching Rogue. It hit him in the left shoulder spinning him a quarter turn and leaving a baseball sized burn spot.

This gave Radesh the time he needed to refocus and prepare another larger fireball. The Rogue had just turned back around when Radesh released the ball aiming for the face. It was a direct hit and the vampire had no time to even scream before his head was reduced to ashes and his body dropped to the ground.

Zach and Radesh turned their attention to the fight between the giant vampires only to have their mouths drop open in shock. In his rage over Shayn’s trauma Gavin had grown even larger and the Rogue was unable to duplicate it this time. It also couldn’t escape the punishment Gavin was dishing out. He used every punch, kick and combination that he had learned in his many years of study with Master Kwon.

After pummeling the Rogue senseless Gavin grabbed him by the head and treated it like a screw off lid. He persisted until the Rogue’s head popped off his body. Then he threw the two pieces as far apart as he could and ordered, “Burn them!” Radesh and Zach wasted no time in sending flaming spells at the two parts of the Rogue incinerating them completely.

Without having to worry about attacks from two directions, Rogan had little problem wearing down the Rogue he was facing. Since the vampire couldn’t heal the wolf bites and scratches completely he eventually became sluggish. With two quick slashes of his claws Rogan removed the Rogue’s head from his body ending his fighting.

Derek had headed up the hill where Zane and Zander battled their Rogue foes. He looked for a chance to help but couldn’t find one.

Meanwhile, Zane stood perfectly still and absorbed three more attack spells from his challenger making the Rogue more and more frustrated. He switched to a corporal attack thinking he could overpower the much smaller vampire.

Zander and the big brute he faced traded blows back and forth using very little magic. Both were bruised and bloodied by their many exchanges as they sought an advantage over their opponent. They persisted in this manner with the Rogue trying to use pure strength against Zander’s greater knowledge of fighting techniques.

Samhain’s Son used his knife/sword to great advantage as he could change from one to another at will as needed. However, this new breed of Rogue healed almost as fast as Zander could slash and stab opening up wounds.

It was bound to happen if the fight went on any length of time. Zander left too big an opening. He had just delivered a backhand slash with his sword that would have disemboweled a human. The Rogue ignored his injury to render a powerful punch to the center of Zander’s chest sending him hurtling until stopped by a large tree.

Zane, who had been keeping his rival off balance, saw Zander get hit and immediately launched himself at the big brute. He came in with a flying sidekick aimed at the Rogue’s ribs. The brute saw it coming, lowered his shoulder and knocked the smaller Zane back the way he had come.

The Rogue Zane had been fighting waited on him with the intent to do bodily harm to the out of control vampire. Tumbling back through the air Zane saw the Rogue waiting with an evil grin, muttered a quick spell that halted his flight. He instantly righted himself and used another spell that not only sent him barreling toward the brutish Rogue but knocked his opponent to his butt.

The brute laughed when he spotted Zane coming at him again. He was ready to swat this insect of a vampire out of the air again. What he wasn’t prepared for was the total control Zane had over his body and his magic. Just before reaching the expectant Rogue Zane spun around dodging the Rogue’s swat and delivering a spell enhanced kick to the back of his head sending him stumbling forward.

Since Zane was now busy with the brute of a Rogue the other Rogue took the opportunity to go after the still stunned Zander. He sped up the closer he got intending to go for the kill right away. That’s when Derek saw his chance to get involved and was at full speed to intercept within seconds. The Rogue was only paying attention to the helpless vampire still leaning against the tree that had brought him to a sudden stop. It was a shock when just before he planted his claws into his intended victim, a body slammed into him knocking him sideways about fifteen yards.

Derek followed the Rogue letting loose with furious flurry of clawing with both sets of paws. The Rogue tried fighting back but was mostly ineffective against the rage directed at him. The Rogue did manage to push Derek off once and got a few licks in before Derek’s fury increased and he renewed his attacks. During his second attack on the Rogue, Derek’s head took on a cougar-like aspect creating a look similar to the wolves war form.

Within a few minutes of his second flurry Derek had the Rogue laid out on the ground with his guts spread all around. The Rogue was howling with pain, still alive and trying to heal from the horrendous wounds.

Zach who had turned his attention to this battle after watching Gavin and Radesh attend to Shayn increasing his healing abilities with magic came over and calmed Derek’s rampage.

“Let me help with that,” offered Zach staring at the mess Derek had made of the hapless vampire’s insides. “Fon in-tandjan!”

Fire leapt from Zach’s outstretched hands and covered the Rogue but soon went out. Zach poured more energy into the spell and tried again but still the flames did not last long. Rogan had finished his fight and arrived in human form as Zach finished a third attempt.

“Let’s do it together now,” suggested Rogan taking hold of Zach’s right hand. The flames licked at the howling Rogue for several minutes without doing much before they too were extinguished. An impatient Derek still in his new war form took a vicious swipe removing the Rogue’s head.

Zach and Rogan tried one more time and with the vampire now dead the flames eventually consumed both body and head.

Enraged by the strike to his head from the diminutive vampire the brute tried to snatch Zane out of the air but making full use of his spell Zane zoomed straight up beyond his reach. From there he sent an energy ball down on the Rogue.

The Rogue tried to bat it away but singed his hand for his efforts. Zane sent two more in quick succession burning the Rogue on the left shoulder and lower right abdomen. Following the second blast Zane delivered a front kick to the brute’s chin causing him to reel backwards. Landing, Zane pursued the Rogue connecting another front kick then a sidekick to the Rogue’s front to keep him backpedaling.

Next he used a punch force spell to force the Rogue back even more. Taking three steps at top speed Zane launched into a spinning flying back kick that lifted the brute off the ground onto the tree behind him with a broken branch protruding from his stomach. Approaching slowly Zane gathered his energies then using one of many fire spells he knew Zane lit the Rogue and watched as the flames began to dwindle.

‘They are resistant to fire even magical,‘ sent Zach, Rogan and Derek together. They along with all the others gathered around Zane and the brute. Motioning for help Zane reached for the Rogue’s arm and Gavin stepped forward to grab the other one.

Together they pulled the Rogue off the branch and dropped him on his knees in the circle of compatriots. Shayn and Zander who were mostly recovered stepped forward to join Zane and Gavin. The four friends joined minds and then delivered the most powerful spell they could conjure setting the Rogue to flames. They did not let up until the big brute was nothing but ashes.

Just as the last of the Rogue went up in smoke two more vampires appeared out of the trees heading towards the group. One of them called out, “Looks like we missed all the fun!”

Everyone whipped around to face this new threat.

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

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