Date: Sun, 27 Oct 2002 12:14:15 -0800 (PST)
From: Linda <ngclle@yahoo.com>
Subject: heir to the darkness: dawn of an empire prologue

Dawn of An Empire-Prologue

Nick kept his hood on as we both walked out to the town's main street to
begin another day's work. I smiled as he tried to pull the hood down a
little more to cover his blond locks. Once we reached the the quaint
streets towards our little shack, we sat down. He stayed within the shack,
weaving baskets while I stood at the window, selling them. This was our
simple existence. We would travel place to place, selling whatever Nick
felt like making. I stared out from our little shack contentedly. The rain
had slowed down and the raindrops were slowly dripping from the rooftops.

I turned around to look affectionately at Nick. He was an artist through
and through. He could cook wonders. He could weave. He could build. He
could entertain, although we had to keep a low profile. But everywhere we
went, his abilities were limitless and we found that we could live
anywhere. The baskets that he made were absolutely gorgeous. And the most
amazing thing was that he didn't use any magic to make anything. Within
minutes of opening our little shack, customers immediately flocked our
window, admiring the craftwork. They were all commonfolk, but at this
moment in time, I'd rather be confined to their common existence than
suffer the bane presence of royalty.

Half the day was gone without us realizing it. Nick had stopped his work to
go towards the back of the shack and make us both some wonderful
refreshments. He handed the cup to me and smiled at me lovingly, his lips
the only part of his face that the hood did not conceal. Yet, I could
picture his beautiful face underneath. The hood was more to conceal those
mesmerizing lavender eyes of his.

Thus, we continued our relaxing work, watching the townsfolk come and
go. It turned out to be another wonderfully uneventful day. We would close
the shack in about an hour or two and head home to our comfy little house
and rest in our comfortable bed, me and him. Our romantic life was at its
peak and every night felt like the first night after our engagement. Our
passion was wilder than ever.

My daydreaming was caught off guard when I noticed a man approach our
shack. He did not look common at all. He had a good build with a
charismatic stroll. He looked, if anything, like a wanderer . . . a
wanderer with a probably fantastic history. But he did not look like
royalty. He appeared to be more of those rebel-justice kind of guys. And
behind him, his sidekicks waddled, all with an air of confidence and
pride. My heart skipped a few beats, hoping to avoid any trouble.

"Ravaging," he exclaimed as he turned Nick's favorite basket over in his
hands. He immediately took an interest in Nick, which made me proud all the
while possessive at the same time. Even with the brown cloak shielding his
beauty, Nick was difficult to conceal. Nick turned to face the wall as to
avoid his stare. 'No need to stare' I said in his mind.

To my shock, his mind answered. 'Name's Craig. Not staring. Just admiring
the handiwork.'

I was a little more than surprised to find ourselves amongst more
vampires. 'What?'

Craig smiled. 'You have not left the boundaries of the vampire world yet,
my friend, even as far as you have traveled. But mind you, the only
vampires that survive here are unruly ones. The rules are our own.'

Craig looked down to admire the craftwork once more. "Beautiful, just like
its creator." His eyes wandered to Nick again. "How much?" he asked as my
skin crawled.

We had traveled so far, hoping to be rid of our heritage. Every week we had
traveled during the night, edging our way away from Sangria! "Twenty
darli's," I answered.

Craig's sidekick placed the money on the table and claimed their
basket. "If you're looking to escape Sangria, then I can assure you that
you are far enough and need not travel any further. We have no contact with
such fiends. This little town only holds those who reject that shabby
leadership."

I felt Nick's fingers stopped. Craig too focused his attention on
Nick. "Perhaps you can introduce me to your charming, but quiet little
friend here," Craig nodded towards Nick as he addressed the statement to
me.

"Brian . . . " I heard Nick's soft voice call out, hinting at me not to get
into an argument with these people. I had learned that his intuition was
impeccable.

I sighed. He was right. We couldn't afford to cause a commotion in this
town. We had traveled for too many months to afford any hostility. I walked
towards Nick and motioned for Craig to follow me. Realizing that I could
not lie to Craig, I said, "This is Nickolas."

"Nickolas," Craig said the name almost affectionately.

Nick smiled under his hood and he took my hand in his and squeezed it
affectionately. "Please forgive my fiancee," Nick said softly. "We've had
quite a few run-ins during our travels. We're both a little jumpy."

"Understandable," one of Craig's men stated. "Under that shabby leadership,
there's nothing but slimeballs traversing the country. We're surrounded by
imbeciles and greedy, lustful, unworthy living forms."

"That's kind of an overstatement, wouldn't you think?" I shot back, rather
disturbed by their pessimistic view.

Craig laughed. "I wouldn't say so, judging from what you both have gone
through."

I looked to Nick alarmingly. He smiled reassuringly. "My fiancee and I only
wish for a peaceful existence," Nick implored.

Craig laughed before his sidekicks drew out their daggers. By now, we have
commanded quite an audience. Apparently, Craig commanded more power than we
had thought. It appeared that he held some leadership position in this
town.

"You've come to the wrong town for peace, friend," Craig answered
coldly. "Tell me, what are you doing here in our little town. We don't
welcome any visitors, especially those from Sangria!" Outside the shack,
the rain was starting to sprinkle the town. I hope that wasn't an omen.

I was ready. These guys are no match for me. I quickly tensed up, before
Nick placed his hand on mine, beckoning me to not get into a fight. Craig
only laughed and flipped his dagger around. A pretty impressive show. He
turned to walk to the other end of the shack and sat down, his cold eyes
piercing us like poisonous arrows. "We don't welcome people who smell of
Sangria, friend. We have cut ourselves off from their bane existence. You
have only one alternative. Leave our little town."

"Tell them, Craig!" the townsfolk agreed.

My face heated up. "Well, if you didn't want strangers, you should have put
a sign outside your town limits," I flared my nostrils. Defense
tactic. "Come on, Nick." I gracefully took hold of his hand, pulling him
out of his seat gently and led him out of our little shack. The nerve of
them. We've been here for two days, and no one said anything until now. And
this Craig . . . what the hell was he? Representing the town or something?

"Hold on!" Craig's voice boomed. "No strangers may stay here for two days
without showing their face. He was referring to Nick. At this time, I
wasn't thrilled with the idea of displaying Nick. We kept on walking, my
hand firmly on Nick's. We had barely taken a few steps when I felt a strong
arm on my shoulder. One of those sidekicks. I wasn't too afraid. If
anything, my powers have grown tremendously since I left Sangria, thanks to
Nick's little lessons here and there. We had trained every chance we got,
him giving me hints or phrases from books he had read in the past about the
art of fighting. He was a master when it came to assessing and critiquing
my fighting skills, always knowing how to analyze an enemy's fighting
stance and finding a way to defeat him. With his insight and my fighting
abilities, we were probably undefeatable.

I quickly flipped the person's arm around and flung him to the ground,
surprising most everyone. I might not look menacing, but I have a bite to
my fighting that's deadly. A few others approached us, but I had
successfully defeated them with a few sweeping motions. We were ready to
leave, Nick smiling appreciatively at me. That was before I felt Craig step
forward.

It was then that I realized that Craig was no ordinary being. He felt very
strong, just like Kevin . . . I tried to focus. But that was when I
realized that Craig . . . hmmm the name sounded familiar. Craigler! That's
right. Craigler the Great-one of the most beloved war heros of our time
. . . had retired and given his own plot of land from the Queen of
Sangria. Since then, his name had died and no one knew what had happened to
him.

I looked on in consternation, but Nick's gentle touch brought me back to
reality. "Careful," he warned me, the concern evident in his voice. I
nodded before nudging him aside, warning him to stay far from us. Within
seconds, I felt Craig step into the inner circle, eyeing me and Nick
closely.

Craig smiled confidently, obviously loving a good challenge. "I win
. . . and he takes off that ghastly hood!" Craig beamed, the excitement
showing on his face. Obviously he has not had this much fun in a while. I
could see the mischief in Craig's eyes. I remember now . . . he was very
well-known for his quirky attitude and informal character-a favorite of the
Goddess Mother.

I made the first move and kicked, only to have him grab a hold of my foot
and flipping me over. I landed without difficulty. The match then truly
began in earnest as each of us threw deft punches at each other, each
deftly averting the other's punches. We fought for quite a few minutes when
we took it onto the rooftops. The townspeople were very awed that someone
could match up to the abilities of their leader. I was mesmerized that I
had found quite a match in a long time. We fought until the sweat poured
onto our faces, each fatigued to no end, but no one wanting to lose. With
effortless glides, we flew from the rooftop back down to the ground, Nick
now within a few hundred feet. I tried to keep the fight away from him so
that he wouldn't be hurt, but Craig seemed to have picked up on this
weakness of mine and moved closer to where Nick stood.

But that seemed to have been Craig's mistake. Nick's voice was gentle yet
firm when he spoke. "Brian . . . his knees are weak." That was enough of a
hint for me. I changed my tactics like I did so many times while training
with Nick. My movements slowed but the force I exerted increased
exponentially as I aimed for his knees, surprising most everyone, including
Craig himself. I expertly swept his knees, making him lose his balance and
tipping him over until he had to take a few steps back. We both paused in
our fight, he all too awed by this sudden loss of his balance, as if that
were the first time anyone got upper hand in a fight with him.

I had hoped the fight had ended, but Nick spoke up once more. "His body is
sturdy, but he is not fast. He has momentum, but his momentum can easily be
misdirected, tipping his balance during his fighting. His arms are strong,
but likewise, they aim for the center of the victim. His blows are aimed
only to kill and no other reason. Therefore, he is entirely too predictable
in his movements."

As he said this, Nick paced around. He shocked everyone by his critical
nature. He had deceived everyone with his mild demeanor and gentle
voice. His words were firm and unforgiving. The townsfolk all stared in
disbelief, and Craig looked on warily, apparently not finding just one
ominous foe in me but another in Nick. "Who are you?" Craig's voice boomed
across the street to reach Nick's ears.

Nick's lips tilted into a small smile. "We've won." With that, he looked to
me expectantly. I smiled at him and approached him. He held his hand out to
me and the two of us walked down the street holding hands
affectionately. We had probably only taken a few steps when another man
blocked our exit, his build just as bulky as Craig's but commanding a
greater respect.

The man smiled. "Excuse my Craig. He's second in command, but had not found
a challenge for a long time. And I myself am amused and delighted to be
amongst such talent. I challenge you, but not because I want to be
belligerent. I just haven't had a chance to try out my rusty sword for so
long. Would you do me the honors?" The man's sturdy figure betrayed the
quickness in his actions. He swept out his sword effortlessly.

A moment of silence. I could feel Nick's gaze on this man, gauging his
every movement. "Careful," Nick whispered to me. "The tip of his sword is
blunt, but the rest of his sword is sharp. Try to avoid the edges. Don't
use force when dealing with him. He'll tire you out." With a good luck kiss
on my lips, Nick stepped aside. I only wish that they would not take
advantage of my preoccupation with this guy and hurt Nick.

I let him have the first move. With lightning speed, he aimed the sword for
my forehead. I blocked with the two small daggers that I pulled out of my
pocket. Nick had spent countless nights sharpening them. I could hear the
claps in the background, awestruck probably from seeing their leader spread
his arms in a fight for a long time. Hero worship. To my surprise, when I
blocked his sword with my daggers, they each created a little nick in his
sword. I was more than impressed to say the least with Nick's skill. I
flipped both daggers in my arm, spinning them and creating a little radius
around my hand that he could not attack and forcing him to back up. With a
small flip, I aimed for his arm, trying to shake his focus. He deftly
averted my attack and managed to link his knee with my stomach. With a
shock, I fell backwards from impact. I was too anxious that I forgot to
defend myself.

I quickly recovered and slipped from under his foot as he nearly stomped on
me. I threw one dagger at him and he took a few steps back, the dagger too
fast for him to catch. I called the dagger back to me and blocked another
one of his advances, once again, nicking another part of his sword. We
fought for quite a few minutes, none of us getting the upper hand. As Nick
had said earlier, I began to feel my muscles tighten. This man was
quick. We took our fight to the gates of the little village, all the
observers following us. I could feel my body hedge slightly as my movements
became clumsier. We once again flew back to the little basket weaving
shack.

We were within fifty feet of Nick. Nick's voice yet again had a calming
effect on me. "The daggers are sharp, Brian, but you need to put more force
when wielding them. " Nick suddenly became silent, and even though I
understood his words, they were not enough to carry me through this
fight. The man had knocked one of my daggers out of my hand and it slid
across the ground out of my reach. I was trapped. With deathly speed, he
attacked my arms, bruising them. He had the chance to slice them off, but
he preferred to humiliate me and attack the arm with the other dagger, also
sending that dagger flying off towards the side. And then, he aimed his
sword for my head . . .

I could see the tip of the sword becoming larger as it tried to sink in
between my eyes, but to my surprise, the man had jumped back in surprise. I
saw the dagger fly towards his face and he had to lean back to avoid it
from cutting through. Nick quickly ran to my side. "Are you all right,
Brian?" he asked worriedly, not caring that the man had jumped forward to
attack him.

When Nick didn't turn around to defend himself from the blow, the man
stopped in midair. With a quick flick of his wrist, he brushed off Nick's
hood, only to reveal Nick's blond locks and mystical lavender eyes. The man
stared in awe, fascinated with this newfound beauty that was entrapped in
his own village. I held onto Nick possessively. Ever since I found that he
had lost his powers, my fears that he would be taken advantage of had
exponentially rose, making me jumpy by every glance that was directed
towards him.

"Exquisite!" Craig said in the background unabashedly. I stood up to shield
Nick from them as Nick pulled back his hood. But it was too late. Just like
it had been for the entire duration of our trip, we had to figure out an
escape route, and fast!