The Grim Legion

  Jaxon crouched behind a large tree and watched a figure walk down the road towards him. He smiled in anticipation as he thought of performing another robbery and possibly even getting to kill again. This was what he lived for, the thrill of the fight, the sensations of victory, and most of all the satisfaction that came with pocketing his quarry's gold. That last part was the best, and was also the only reason he did what he did. The thrills and all that were good, but they just could not compare to watching those pieces of gold and silver slide their way into his pouch. And besides, the thrill had diminished since he had formed a gang to make sure that he would not get in harm's way unless it was absolutely necessary. Not that he was a pushover, far from it. He had yet to meet a man that could beat him in fight, but it did help to have five or six men with you when you want to do the really complicated heists. Granted, this did take a bit away from the final amount of loot he got, but it was usually worth it.

  He looked around and surveyed his gang. They were scattered in various positions around the road, and the only reason he could see them now was because he had placed each of them himself. He had seven people altogether: six were humans and one was a Darken, (a lizard-like humanoid that was exceptionally intelligent.) Of his men, four of them were at least passable with blades and two, the Darken and a human named Bill, were quite proficient with them. The only one who was almost no good with any kind of bladed weapon besides a knife was also the only woman present: Jaxon's sister, Korinna. No one cared about her weakness, though, because she was a better shot with a bow than anyone else any of them had even seen. Korinna was and always had been Jaxon's back up, and she had saved his life too many times for him to count. None of the others in the gang really trusted her because if she did not like you she would shoot you in the back in the middle of the fight, but Jaxon knew that she would always be there for him in the difficult situations. They had always helped each other and watched each other's backs, ever since their father and mother had been killed by orcs so long ago…

  Jaxon shook his head to clear away the cobwebs from his mind. Now was not the time to be getting nostalgic. The traveler was almost to his gang's position. He was close now; almost close enough for Jaxon to give the signal to attack. Just a few more seconds . . .but then he heard a twig snap off to the side as Ben shifted from one foot to another. Now, anywhere else, even if a snapping twig was heard it would have been ignored, but Darkoven Forest was not "anywhere else." The sound of that little twig snapping shot through the air and seemed like two swords clashing for all of the noise it made. Jaxon cursed silently as he saw the traveler jerk his head up and quickly identify the situation he was in. Jaxon sighed; there was nothing left to do except go for bluster or just kill him. He yelled the signal and everyone besides Korinna, who was there to make sure nothing unexpected happened, ran out onto the road and surrounded the traveler. Jaxon came out last for dramatic effect, and he made the most of it as he swaggered out of the cover of the forest with his ornate sword and shield in his hands. He grinned savagely and called out.

  "Hail stranger. It seems that your choice to travel around Darkoven at night was a poor one this time. Give us all of your gold, weapons, and anything else you carry that could possibly be of value and we just might just let you live. Refuse, and I'm afraid we just might have to kill you and piss on your dead body after hanging it naked and upside-down on a cross for all to see." He had no intention of doing anything other than robbing this man, but he enjoyed being as imaginative and descriptive as he could just to drive in the point that this was, in fact, a robbery.

  The traveler was wearing a large, brown cloak that covered all of his body with its folds and had a large hood that covered most of his face. He raised his head and looked at Jaxon, but with the hood over his face, Jaxon could not get a good look at him. He stared at Jaxon for a moment before he spoke.

  "I think not friend. I have no desire to be robbed tonight."

  Jaxon's grin disappeared. "Kill him."

  The four passable fighters lunged towards the traveler simultaneously and from different directions, while Bill and the Darken stayed back to assess this stranger. As the bandits ran towards the traveler, he quickly cast of his brown cloak. Underneath it he had a black leather suit that was snug without being form-fitting. Without the hood over his face, Jaxon was finally able to see it in the full force of the bright moonlight. It was a nice face. It seemed handsome and a little soft, but that softness was tempered with more steel than he had seen in a long time. The traveler's hair was black and reached to just above his eyebrows. Jaxon wondered why he was dwelling on weird things like that and quickly shifted his gaze to the traveler's eyes. A quick, instinctive, burst of fear rolled down from his head to his feet and back up again as every hair he owned stood on its end. The traveler's eyes glowed a vibrant red in the moonlight. This was a vampire!

  He could tell that the shock he felt was also present in the four that were charging the vampire. All four of them stopped and looked at each other long enough for the vampire to reach behind him and draw a wicked looking spear from his back. Jaxon cursed himself for not noticing but then wondered how he could have not noticed it. The shaft of the spear was six feet long, which seemed a little longer than the vampire was tall, and was black but had streaks of silver flowing up it like lightning. The blade had to have been at least a foot long and was ornately jagged. Its edges were serrated, and the tip was two different points with a small, long dip in between them. Jaxon assumed that this must be for catching swords or some similar battle function.

  The four men were hesitating now. They were obviously surprised to find out that their helpless victim was actually a vampire. They had all heard stories about vampires from their mothers or grandmothers way back before they had probably killed said matrons, and Jaxon was sure that, at that very moment, what their late mothers had told them was running back through their heads with remarkable clarity. They even looked like they might run, until Jaxon laughed out loud and let his smile reappear.

  "Remember lads, vampires bleed just like the rest of us when you stab them. There are seven of us and only one of him. And besides, I'll be willing to bet my share of the loot that he is loaded with gold."

  His arrogant proclamation and his reassuring words gave them courage, so all four of them once again lunged towards the vampire. The vampire let out a grin that flashed in the moonlight and in an instant he dropped down until his knees almost touched the ground. The swords flew over him and all of the bandits had to fight against their momentum in order to avoid stabbing each other and getting stabbed in turn. Then he gripped his spear with both hands, held it close to him, and swung it out in a vicious arc around him at their shins. They all tried to back up, but Weslie stumbled and fell to the ground. It was only when he tried to get back up that he noticed his feet and half of his shins were still standing. He started screaming.

  Quickly reversing the momentum, the vampire thrust his spear out behind him at the chest of another one. Ben managed to bring his sword up and deflected the stab upwards, right into his neck. He fell wordlessly to the ground as blood began to flow from the jagged wound torn into his neck by the serrated edge of the spear. The remaining two, Mark and Frank, backed off and slowly began to circle the vampire as he spun around to slide the tip of his spear through Weslie's ribs, right below the nipple, and pierce his heart. Weslie gurgled a couple times and the vampire pulled the spear out with just as much grace as he had used to place it there, leaving only a small, bleeding line where the deathblow was struck.

  At that moment, Mark and Frank were trying to get on opposite ends of the vampire so that they could enact some kind of pincer attack, but before they could really start coordinating their attack strategy, the vampire sprang t
owards Mark with super-human speed. Mark, a big, burly man, was just able to parry the vampire's sideways swing that was to his left side. What happened then dumbfounded Jaxon. The vampire used the connection his spear had with Mark's sword to spin back around the other way, while still in the air, and lay open Mark' stomach and intestines. As Mark fell to his knees, desperately trying to keep his guts inside his stomach cavity, Frank charged the vampire with his sword in both hands and raised above his head. The vampire, having just recovered after his landing, only got a fleeting glimpse of Frank as he slammed down with his sword.

  That one glance was all he needed. He rolled to the side and was back up to his feet even as Frank's sword hit the ground where he had been only a moment before. Frank frantically brought his sword back up into a decent guard position but he was lifetimes too late. The vampire launched into a series of lightning-fast stabs. Each strike found its mark as Frank tried to block all of them, but was far too slow. For a moment, he just stood where he was, a hole was gouged into his chest, arm, and stomach. Then a wail slowly rose from his throat and burst from his lips as tears ran down his cheeks. His troubles were quickly ended when the vampire turned the blade of his spear in a quick circle above Frank's head, ending it by decapitating him.

  The vampire stood, stabbed Mark in the same way he had killed Weslie, wiped his spear on a part of Weslie's shirt that was not bleeding, and turned to face Jaxon, Bill, and the Darken.

  "I would hate to waste your time. Who is next?"

  Bill and the Darken both growled and were about to converge on him when Jaxon held up his hand for them to stop. He had a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

  "We don't need to fight this fool. Korinna can just take him out right here and now. Korinna, deal with this blood-sucking freak. Shoot him now!"

  There was no response. No arrow burying itself into the vampire's chest, or even an acknowledgement. The vampire stared at him again with a hint of something that Jaxon could not describe in his eyes.

  "I am afraid that it is far too late for that my friend. Did you think I had not noticed your friend from the beginning of our little skirmish? My pets took care of her. Now if we can just forget about that, can we get back to my previous question? Who is next?"

  Jaxon's body went rigid, and for a moment the entire forest swirled in front of his eyes. His strength seemed to leave his limbs and he sagged against a tree. This could not be happening. Korinna was the only one he was able to enjoy the company of anymore. They had been together since childhood, and had made a pact to never die on one another. She could not be dead. She just could not be dead.

  "Kill him!" Jaxon yelled as he staggered off towards Korinna's position.

  Bill yelled out a battle cry and charged the vampire, and the Darken, thinking this to be the most sensible option, quickly followed after him. The vampire prepared himself for them and once they reached him the three of them became embroiled in a battle that might have been fun to watch had Jaxon not just heard that his sister and only companion had been killed. As it was, he paid no attention to the melee and kept walking towards Korinna's position. He had to see for himself whether what the vampire was saying was true or not.

  He passed off of the badly tiled road and into the forest that blanketed the hills all around. He worked his way through the underbrush, feeling like his arms were lead with his sword and shield still in them, and finally came to where Korinna lay. He gasped. The noise made the countless bats that lay around her, sucking the very last dregs of her blood from her veins, scream in terror and fly off in a panic. One flew at him, its fangs open wide, but even in his distraught frame of mind he still sliced off its head once it was within range of him. The others landed on various branches that were close enough for them to still see him but far away from his blade.

  When he looked back at his sister he stopped caring about all of the little bats. She lay on the ground with her bow still in one hand; an arrow was notched to the string. Her mouth was opened wide in what must have been a silent scream of terror and her eyes were open wider than he thought was possible. There were eight little holes around her mouth, four on the top lip, and four on the bottom, and he realized why no one had heard her scream. Two of the bats had bit her in her mouth and kept it shut while the others stuck themselves onto her body and stole all of her blood. He continued to stare, taking in her completely white skin and all of the tiny holes that covered her body. There was no blood on her wounds or on the ground around her either. It seemed that the bats had done their job well.

  For just a moment Jaxon fell to his knees and a deep despair overflowed from his soul and enveloped him, but then he gritted his teeth and gripped his sword even harder. Even as tears filled around the bottom of his eyes, he swore right then and there that this vampire was going to die by his sword.

  Jaxon stood up and ran back to the three-man melee that still raged back on the road and was surprised to find that the vampire was not only still alive, but that he was holding his own against Bill and the Darken. Now, Jaxon knew very little about either Bill or the Darken other than that Bill was once a gladiator and that his left forearm had been cut off right below the elbow at one point and that it had also been replaced by a metal one. He put said forearm to good use in every one of his fights by using it as a shield, club, or even to reinforce his sword from time to time.

  Bill had been the first man Jaxon hired to help him, and the two of them almost had what could be considered as a friendship. Basically, that meant that they would still kill each other, but only if they were getting paid for it. He knew almost nothing about the Darken, not even its name. It had just walked up to him one day and offered to join his group. The only thing he had learned about it since then was that it was an extremely good fighter, amazingly intelligent, and held a healthy disdain for anything it could beat in a fight.

  The vampire was definitely having a hard time of it now. Bill and the Darken constantly attacked him, so he could do nothing except to block and evade, and this was getting harder and harder as the two of them warmed up to his blocking styles and also to each other's attacking styles. He still kept dodging and parrying, however, until he saw his opportunity. As Bill attacked low and the Darken swung at his face, he hopped into the air slightly and twisted until he was almost parallel to the ground, making both attacks miss him, and struck out at Bill with his spear and at the Darken with his boots. Bill was able to throw himself backwards and slammed his metal forearm down on the spear, but the Darken took the full force of the vampire's boots in its chest and was thrown back several feet to land on its back with a loud crack. The Darken groaned in pain but for a moment, its limbs had lost the power to move.

  The vampire landed in a crouching position and leapt towards Bill, who had just recovered as well, with the same move he had used against Mark. Bill twisted his right wrist and smacked the spear's tip away from his side with his sword and an almost contemptuous chuckle. Once again, the vampire used the blades to push himself around in mid-air and swung back around the other way to slice at Bill's stomach. Bill, having seen the attack earlier, just dropped his shoulder down and let his metal forearm block for his stomach. There was a resounding clang and for the first time the vampire's attack failed. Bill smiled and slashed out with his sword. The vampire's ducked under this and retaliated, but this also was blocked. Now Bill just looked smug.

  "Well, well, well, it seems like the big, bad, vampire can't seem ta' get through my handy little metal arm to land a hit now can he?"

  The vampire smiled back. The smile seemed genuine, which made it all the more mocking. "Yes, I complement you on the good use of that arm. I suppose I will just have to do something about that."

  Bill growled and stabbed out. The vampire spun his spear perpendicularly to the ground and batted the blow far to the side, too far. As Bill staggered because he kept his hold on his sword, the vampire let go of the spear with one hand and sliced at his stomach again. Bill readied his arm even as he regained his p
osture and for a moment he wondered why the vampire was being so repetitive. He found out why too late when, at the last second, the vampire lifted his arm and flicked his wrist downward. In one quick motion Bill's entire arm past his biceps was gone. Red filled Bill's sight as his metal forearm clanged to the ground and he took several steps back. His arm did not hurt yet, but he knew that he had precious little time before the shock ceased and the pain would become unbearable. This was just like that last time his arm had been cut off. He just had to compose himself and attack before he became useless.

  Summoning all of his remaining strength, he charged the vampire and swung with his remaining arm. Despite all of his thoughts, however, it was a slow, clumsy strike, and the vampire easily ducked under it before shoving his spear up and piercing Bill through the jaw, mouth, and finally through his brain. When the spear finished, the two points could just barely be seen coming out of the top of his head. Bill had no time for a reaction before he died and slumped to the ground.

  The vampire placed his boot on Bill's chest in an effort to yank out his spear, but before he could he heard the Darken, who had just recovered, charging towards him. He just barely managed to jump to the side as it swung down viscously. The vampire rolled once before getting his feet under him and springing back up. The Darken, thinking the vampire was unarmed, yanked its sword out of Bill's chest and charged after him with wild abandon. When it got to him it slashed downwards again. He rolled to the side and, when it slashed down at him again, checked himself to roll back the other way. It slashed horizontally and he threw himself back. This time, however, when he recovered himself the Darken was above him. It allowed itself a small smile of victory and slashed down one last time. There was a resounding clash as metal met metal and the Darken gaped at the vampire, who now held a sword in his hands. He had apparently been carrying it the entire fight. The vampire pushed off the Darken's sword and slashed out with the sword in his right hand. The Darken fell back and put itself in a fighting stance. It was no fool and had only fought wildly earlier because it had believed its prey was unarmed.