Bruce Hickman 5 Chapter 5

Hawk was much smarter than his brother had given him credit for. That was the one thing that gave Hawk the advantage over Nightwing and a renewed sense of hope that was not evident before. None knew of the many schemes that were stirring in his head, schemes that would hopefully bring an end to his brothers' evil reign of terror and corruption. He would free people from the fear of the power that Nightwing holds over the towns he enters. The people would not have to fear the name of Nightwing ever again.

This was not so for the town Kamenstein, a town ruled by Vampirics who wors.h.i.+pped Nightwing as a G.o.d and would do anything that he commanded of them. The people of this town were nothing more than food for Nightwing and for is followers, it was a breeding colony for the future. It was to be a world in which Nightwing was a supreme ruler and was wors.h.i.+pped by all. The fear that possessed these people was a deep-rooted fear, one that had come from generations of rule under the Vampirics rule. Not many knew of this town set so far back in the Klein Mountains, where it would not be disturbed by would be travelers. Only a few had ever discovered its existence but they usually didn't live long enough to tell the tale of a town where Vampirics rule and people are raised like cattle for the slaughter.

This was a town of much privacy and little worldly knowledge. Any Vampiric who stumbled upon the town was often treated like a G.o.d and all his desires were fulfilled by the local townsfolk. If he sought out a woman, she was provided. If he was hungry, the weak and sick were hidden so that he would have his choice of the finest stock. If it were games that he desired, he was provided with an endless amount of activities. There was nothing these people wouldn't do to please their Vampiric masters.

The one thing that no one had considered was the lost legend of the temptress, an evil beast who seeks out the souls of all men who would willingly go to her. Those that wouldn't were often killed in rituals of sacrifice for power. Of course it was the greatest power of all, the power over every living thing.

Hawk had not forgotten this legend and soon could see the signs that the temptress was there or at least had been recently. A pa.s.sing traveler might mistake the unmarked graves for that of men and women who were to far gone to recognize or even a grave sight for bandits. For all too often in small towns such as this, bandits were not left where they were killed to ward off others. NO, many times these towns thrived on the bandits themselves, letting them attack rich pa.s.sing travelers and then attacking the bandits themselves, stealing all that the bandits had stolen only moments ago. This has become common practice in the last decade or so, for there seemed to be fewer and fewer Vampiric protectors around and the people were having to learn to fend for themselves.

Little did the towns' people know that the Vampirics weren't disappearing, they were changing into a new and more glorious version of their former selves. They were often becoming beautiful, angelic creatures of peace and love. They sought to hurt no one, in turn; they were left alone to do as they pleased in their daily lives. This change had almost become natural for the people when they would come across one of the chosen ones. This name was given to them by their fore fathers who saw them as a sign from G.o.d and a hope for the future of Vampirics. Though many of them never even dreamed of becoming one of the chosen ones, it was always a thought in the back of their minds that they could never ignore. For many, the hope to someday be chosen for the gift was the only thing that kept them going in the hard times. It kept them from harming innocent other in the time of trouble.

There were always those that would seek to bring down the hopes and dreams of their fellow Vampirics but the two that stood out the most amongst the group were the temptress Robyn of Sargonia. She is the most evil of all the Vampirics, the lady of death and destruction, the crusher of dreams, the seeker of the weak and the strong. She is commonly known as the lady Talia of the Baron Mountains of the western coast of Denier. Many people believed that they were made up by parents to get their children to behave. There were those that had seen the handy work of these two knew that the tales were true and that to cross the paths with either of these two ladies would mean certain death.

One such person lucky enough to have survived an attack by these two ladies still bears the scars of the powerful fighting capabilities. Even to this day, he has sworn to seek out and destroy the ones that scared him. Shakar's obsession with destroying these vile creatures is all that keeps him going at times, where there seems to be no hope for anybody in a world where evil is more or less tolerated by the people. Many turn a blind eye to the crimes that happen around them day in and day out but that was soon to change. Shakar would bring the beginning of a new era of peace.

He was not going to be alone in this battle for there were many of the chosen ones who would stand and fight, even die, for him if it was necessary. They all believed that he was the one who was to rule. They would do anything to see that he was brought into the light. They would stand by the Vampirics and fight along side of them, They would not, however, by any means allow them to come to power over the world that they helped to create. They felt that only a true human could ever rule the world. They were determined to see that it happened no matter what the consequences might be, even if it meant the destruction of the human race.

People can often at times fool themselves into believing that they are superior over other beings and that no matter what they will always come out on top. One person believes differently. She is a believer in the true fates of the people. She has a gift of power and with it she is to become one of the greats in the history of the battle for survival.

"Tell me Hawk, what is it that is troubling you on this fine day" Savirion inquired of the mighty Vampiric.

"There is nothing that troubles me this day. I am simply thinking about something that has come to mind for some time." Hawk replied with a sly grim on his face.

"AHH! I see, you are thinking about the lovely Natalia again. You know that you could never have her Hawk, you are two different people." Savirion always made it a point to bring up the one fact that would always keep Hawk at bay but it seemed as though Hawk was not going to let go that easily this time.

"Savirion, you must do me a favor and find her for me. You must give her a message for me. Tell her that I must see her, it is a matter of life or death that we speak and soon." Hawk said with a conviction that told Savirion that he was not giving up so easily this time. So Savirion hurried off to find the one person that would set Hawk back on track and hopefully get his mind back in the mission at hand. Savirion was always worried that the same thing would happen and that Hawk would go out on one of his rampages after being rejected by the lovely Natalia, as he had always done in the past.

He could only hope that this time he could convince the lady of mystery to play along with him for once and just humor the guy, in hopes that he could get him back in the mood to hunt down their ever deadly brother Nightwing. It didn't' take long for Savirion to find her. After all, she always knew when company was coming to visit, that was her curse, the ability to see into the future that could be. She was waiting at the door when he arrived and without a second thought she answered the question that was forming in Savirions mind. She didn't hesitate to answer it before he could ask it.

"No, absolutely not, I will not go to Hawk" she said before Savirion had even landed in his ever so graceful way, like that of a dancer. He would glide in, touch down softly without a sound.

"Well, it is good to see you too, Natalia." He responded in his coy sort of way.

"Sorry, Savirion. I didn't mean to do that but you know how it is when you know the probable future. You sometimes act without a thought and usually end up saying things you didn't intend to say out loud." She replied.

"I know my lady, but this time is different. He has completely lost his course on the mission. He can't even keep his mind on it anymore. All he has done for the past two days is stare off into s.p.a.ce when I ask him what he is thinking. He usually says its nothing and not to worry about it. I know he is thinking of you Natalia, so will you please, just this once go to him and talk to him. Maybe, just maybe, you can get his mind back on track." He almost pleaded with her to do this but feared that she would still stay no.

To Savirions surprise, she actually agreed to go with him and to talk to Hawk but he still feared the worst. Natalia did not like what she saw in her vision, so she agreed to go only to prevent the possible future that she saw. For even though she had no feelings for Hawk, outside friends.h.i.+p, she could not stand the thought of seeing him defeated by Nightwing and his warriors. Natalia was determined to see that the vision was changed and with every pa.s.sing mile a new vision would come to her. They were getting better but she knew that there was much to do done if she was to direct the future into a positive form.

They arrived just after sunset in the fourth day of their travels. When Savirion had left Hawk, he was still headed in a westerly direction. He was apparently back on the mission for he had changed directions three times. If it was not for the help of Natalia and her visions, they surely would not have caught up to Hawk as quickly as they did. Hawk had decided to stop off in a small town where the people were almost shocked to see a Vampiric in their midst's but they treated him no different than any other traveler. He was charged the same rates for rooms as anyone was. The only exception they made for him was giving him the prisoners sentenced to die att.i.tude. They made sure he would have a good supply of food so he wouldn't be tempted to take one of the towns' folk for his meal.

Savirion and Natalia landed just outside of the town and performed the usual ritual of folding their wings so that they looked like a cloak rather than wings. They soon discovered that this made no difference, for they were spotted for what they truly were shortly after they entered the town. As with any small town, the news of their arrival spread quickly. They were soon greeted by a large group of peasants who welcomed them with open arms and questions unabound.

"Say, are you folks with that other feller who flew in here a couple of day's back?" One of the elder peasants asked of the two.

"Uh, yeah, I think he would happen to go by the name of Hawk?" Savirion asked the old man.

"Don't know for sure, never did mention his name. In fact, he never did mention anything about himself, only said to keep an eye out for a tall, dark skinned man traveling with a tall golden skinned beauty of a lady. Said you'd probably be traveling on foot and well so far you two are the only people who come this way that fits that description." The elder told him.

"Well then, I guess that we are with him, could you point us in the right direction." Natalia asked in the smooth soft tones that would make any mortal man melt for her. "Sure ma'am, he's at the inn. It's the only one we got so's you can't miss it, just ahead down the main road here and it will take you right to it." He said with a gleam in his eye that told her she hadn't lost her touch. Now she only hoped that she could use that charm to keep Hawk's mind on the mission and off of her body.

All was going well so far and they had no problem finding the Inn. Now dealing with Hawk was another thing entirely and with a little luck, she would be able to keep him at bay. She knew from past experiences that it was not going to be easy. This was one of those times when Natalia wished she did not have the inherent charm of the Vampirics. Little did she know that Hawk not affected by her charm abilities, in fact no Vampiric was ever affected by the inherent charm of the females.

They entered the Inn and before they could even ask about Hawk the innkeeper pointed to the only upstairs room in the place and said, "He's up there. He's been waiting for you two to get here for some time now. He comes down every so often and has a drink of a weird liquid he keeps in a leather flask. It's a real dark thick liquid he seems to down an awful lot of that stuff. You folks wouldn't happen to know what it is, would ya?"

"Yes, unfortunately we would, for you see we all carry flasks like his. We keep a special drink in it that is normally on ingested during the mating ritual which can last as long as two weeks or as little as three days. If he's been ingesting that stuff for the past two days, that means he's preparing to mate." Savirion replied stoically. This revelation brought a look of dread to Natalia's face for she new who he was intending to mate with. She was bound and determined that she would not be the one, no matter what she had to do to keep him at bay, even if it meant that she had to tie him down for four days so that the elixir could work it's way out of his system. That way he wouldn't have the desire to mate.

While this seemed like a good idea to Hawk, Natalia was not the willing partic.i.p.ant that he had hoped she would be.

"Natalia, you came. I am so glad you came. You have no idea how much I have missed you" Hawk called out from the doorway of his room. Savirion and Natalia turned and looked up at the smiling Hawk and both could see that he had ingested the full amount of the elixir and was nearly ready for mating. While Savirion found this to be amusing, Natalia was not so amused for she knew what was coming next and she was not looking forward to it.