I am close to this one small victory.  My collar will bend and break like I have. 

Just a little more.

I don’t know where this spark came from. I was missing something but now I have—

Hope?

Nonsense that seems silly, but still— The collar snaps. 

The stranger whips his head in my direction. Surprise breaks his stoic expression. His look gives me another strange feeling. Confidence. He acknowledges me, in a subtle way. 

I can do this.

Freshly out of my collar I grab the bars. The spark ripples with my every breath. The feeling takes me back to the first time. Its a warm feeling. I can hear my fathers lessons like he’s still here.

Breathe deeply and feel true grace.

I wonder if this is what he meant, the warm feeling of a summer’s day. A dawn breaking through the coldness of the night. It gives me strength.

The strength to break through these cold iron bars.

Again it happens, a miracle. The bars break easily against my strength. If it was a spark earlier; now, it’s a roaring fire. The past few days don’t matter any more. 

I can do this.

Free of my cage I look to the stranger and his fight. My heart skips. The big vampire has shredded the stranger’s left shoulder. That isn’t the most terrifying thing. His lack of concern for the blood pouring out of him is what truly scares me. 

I shake the feeling away.

He needs my help.

“So the boy has some neat tricks.” My blood runs cold. The realization blows over me like a harsh winter’s wind. That voice belongs to the one who brought us to this tavern. 

“You.” My voice sounds like someone else. Someone brave.

“Me!” He replies mocking my tone of voice.

Holding out his hand he beckons me towards him. 

“I’ll warn you, it wasn’t very effective when your pitiful father—”

“Bastard!” 

My feet explode against the wooden floorboards. They splinter. I move at breakneck speed across the tavern. One devistating straight punch, aiming for his chest. I underestimate him. My attack is too direct, allowing him to easily grab my arm and throw me through a nearby support beam.

Missed. Damn! Have to get up. I hear a commotion from the fight next to me, but it doesn’t matter. I need to fight. My life— My sister’s life, depends on it. I struggle to my feet and take another deep breath. The ki cycles. 

 My legs snap, exploding off the floor again. The vampire smirks. His left arm blurs, moving to catch me. I’m ready this time. Using the momentum of my dash, I twist. Pivoting off my front foot. 

His face distorts. He sees what I’m doing, but its too late. I crouch, getting close to the floor. I feel his counterattack fly by the top of my head. Predictable. My back leg trails an arc around me. The sweeping leg kick lands, knocking him off balance.

I move on my advantage, struggling to wrestle him into submission. He’s ferocious, fighting tooth and claw to regain the upper hand. Without warning I feel us rise into the air. Magic. We soar across the room, my back smashing into the boar’s head hanging above the tavern door. 

The sharp pain of the boars teeth impaling me causes me to lose my grip. He siezes the opprotunity and throws me to the floor. I smash through a table sending splinters all over the room. My ki is disrupted.

I grit my teeth, now that my ki is gone my wounds take their toll. The vampire lands with grace. He looks tired, but I didn’t land a scratch on him. 

“You are a lot more lively than your father, I’ll give you that.”

I try to suck in a breath, but my ribs are broken. My panic makes it worse. I never stood a chance of beating him. It’s apparent now. 

He readies a final decisive blow with his putrid black claws. His monsterous face twists. His black veins bulge in his forehead. “You can join him in hel—” A silver flash cuts the vampire’s gloating short. A nice clean slice sends his wretched head rolling to the floor. His body soon follows, leaving one man standing in the room. The Stranger. 

I feel it again, my head is spinning. I owe my life to this stranger. I hear him say something, but its hard to make out over the ringing in my ears. His lips are moving— His head snaps to the entrance and I crane my head. 

In steps a massive tiefling woman. She is soaked head to toe in blood, wearing a disarmingl warm smile. 

She seems nice.

///

John, the Half-Blood

“That was reckless.” I mutter to the boy beaten on the floor. The boys expression grows absent. He’s barely conscious.  

Foolish child.

My gaze snaps to the tavern door. Someone is barging in. Realizing who it is I let out a disgruntled sigh. “Don’t barge in like that.” The tiefling with a dark crimson complexion stands before me, my comrade Sarrelle. Her simple fur clothes were soaked in blood. Vampire blood. It had an unmistakable grave-stench. 

“Sorry John, I’m just a bit excited after—’ Sarrelle stutters as she notices The young boy passed out on the floor. She looks back to me, with that familair expression I have grown to hate. Compassion.

“No.” I say preemptively.

“John he’s in bad shape—”

“No!”

The boy’s injuries are too burdensome and he brought this on himself. “I can’t let him drag us down.”

Sarrelle scoffs. “The legendary ‘Half-blood’ and his equally menacing companion Sarrelle can kill a village full of vampires—” She throws her hands up like a child throwing a tantrum. “—but they can’t help a boy while he recovers.” Her eye roll is the final straw. 

“Fine— If he’s so damn helpless you can carry him.” 

Her annoying demenor falls away as she shoots me a devilish grin. 

“Sure thing, softie.”

I throw her another look of dismay and turn my attention to the table where the girl lay. Her face was palid, but I hear the soft beating of her struggling heart. 

Shit.

Hunger forces itself to the front of my mind. My canines buzz. Devour. The sight of her blood stirs the half of me I’d like to forget. After a moment I regain my composure. 

I look back to Sarrelle to see that I must have been silent for an awkwardly long time. Her eyes shine with concern. 

“I’m fine, but—”I push the moment aside.”The girl is still alive, I’ll put her out of her misery.” I unsheath my sword again, but am stopped by a shaky hand closing around my ankle. It is the kid. 

Foolish boy.

He is barely conscious, but somehow he managed to grab me. “Let go—” My words catch in my throat.

The boy is fully asleep now, but his body still fights for the girl. I study his features and glance back to the table. Both of them have the same messy blonde hair. 

Ah, I see.

They are siblings, she is the last family he has. I stop my advance towards the table, not because he is actually holding me here. No— His grip is weak and desperate. 

I stop because his desperation is familiar. The boy reminds me of myself— a younger version of myself. One who thrashed against the inevitable. Even in a world so dark, you can’t see three feet in front of you. He thrashes against the unknown.

I find myself looking to Sarrelle. “About the girl—”

“She will come with us too.” Resolve burns her eyes.

“You know what that could mean for him.” 

Silence falls between us for a moment. I know that she is all too aware of the possible outcomes.

“She could turn— she could die, but maybe—” She looks down at the boy who fights on even while beaten. 

“She could live.” Sarrele mutters.

My fists tighten. “That’s a terrible choice he has to make!”

“At least it’s a choice!” She yells back.

I shake off the boy’s grip. “An impossible choice!”

“Please—”

I almost jump at the sound of the boy’s whimper.

“Sa— Save her.”

“Look at him John, he has earned the right to have the choice.” Sarrelle steps closer, ready to stop me if I try.

I sigh. “Your optimism is cruel.”

She grabs me by the edge of my fluttering cape. The fire behind her eyes shows me shes dead serious.  

 “It’s far more cruel to rob him of the last freedom this world affords him.” 

Sensing that this is the end of the discussion I relent. She’s right. The boy fought recklessly, but he fought hard. I am also ready to get away from here. This scene brings up all too familiar memories. 

“Get the horses and we will take them back to camp—” I pause and point to the girl. “She is to remain tied up for the time being, I won’t have a freshly spawned vampire sinking her teeth into my neck.”

Sarrelle nods. “What will you do?”

“I am going to search the village for evidence, I want to know why there are so many vampires outside of Lanceheart’s Domain.” Lanceheart, his name leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The wretched vampire lord is a blight on existence. Something I intend to correct.

“Right, There must be something here.” She adds before hoisting Marcus up on her shoulder. “I’ll fetch the horses then.”

As she leaves I trun to survey the slaughter before me. “What a bloody mess.” I mutter. This is going to take a while.