Page 8 of Theoden
Another hour passed and the tavern was closing. “We will return tomorrow night,” I said. This was not how I’d wanted this night to end, but patience was a virtue. We left and stayed at our inn. Again, we returned the next night. It had been only one week since the body of the last victim had been found. The blood drinker would need to feed again soon. I was sure the monster was feeding in other places, but this was the one place we knew he returned to and our best chance of finding him.
Hours passed with us speaking to the customers, but it wasn’t until I caught the odd scent of one patron that I became alarmed. He had walked past me and taken a seat toward the back of the tavern. I had to act. I walked over to his table. Oh god, my feet felt like lead with every step I took toward the man that was a killer. A demon created by the devil. A blood drinker, I was certain.
I stood before him and he looked up at me, his brown eyes narrowing, his smile widening. “What has brought such a beauty to my table?”
Thank god, both Samuel and Ashur joined me. They were now standing at my sides, ready to act if this monster did.
“By the order of the Roman Catholic Church, we have been sent to send you back to hell from whence you came,” I announced. My hand gripped the hilt of my sword.
He cocked an eyebrow, then laughed. “The Church has finally released its warriors onto me.”
Oh my god, he had not denied it. He really was a blood drinker. The same one we were hunting! I was so scared, I felt I might vomit. My hand shook slightly as it rested on the hilt of my sword and the blood drinker noticed this too, and chuckled.
“Will you kill me in front of all these people?” he asked, taunting us.
“You will die where you sit, monster!” Ashur proclaimed.
“And you will die where you stand, boy,” the blood drinker threatened, his fangs protruding.
Oh my god! This really was a demon spawned from the devil!
I removed my sword, slicing at him, but he was fast, sliding back from the table and running from the tavern. We gave chase, ignoring the clamor of the drunk and confused patrons.
“Where did he go?” Samuel asked, looking around, as we all were.
“We must not split up,” I said, knowing it would be a grave mistake. This blood drinker was faster than I had expected.
“Let us try that alley.” Samuel pointed at the dark alley littered with rats and garbage.
“Keep your eyes alert,” I instructed as I led the way. I wished I could have beheaded him in the tavern. When dealing with blood drinkers, you had to take your opportunity where you could. Sure, doing so would have created a spectacle, but lives would have been saved. We ran down the alley, passing drunk people along the way.
I could not explain the sensation I was feeling, but I knew he was nearby. I could smell him, the scent he wore smelled of sandalwood. That scent grew stronger the further we traveled down the alley. I slowed my pace and gave Samuel and Ashur a silent warning that we were close. We all had our swords drawn and were ready to attack.
“Ahhhh!” I heard Ashur scream, and I turned to see the blood drinker shoving him against the wall of a building. Ashur fell to the ground, dropping his sword from the impact. I lunged for the blood drinker, but he vanished before our very eyes. We could hear him laughing in the dark crevices of the alley, and it sounded like he was all around us. Samuel helped Ashur to his feet as I tried to focus my senses on just where the blood drinker was.
Finally, he stepped out from between two buildings where he’d been hiding in the shadows. “My King would love to have youembraced,” the blood drinker said to me. “I can smell your blood,” he licked his lips, exposing his fangs, “Sooooo delicious. I will taste it soon.”
“Never!” I declared. I kept my sword raised before me as I drew closer, ready to strike if he attacked. Samuel and Ashur were now surrounding him, and together, we advanced. I thrusted my sword forward, but the monster leaped in the air, landing on the roof of the building. He then began running again, leaping from rooftop to rooftop as we ran as fast as we could, struggling to keep pace.
I knew he wanted us to chase him, as I had learned these blood drinkers were faster than humans and more powerful, with demonic abilities we couldn’t fathom. The three of us gave chase until we came to a blocked section of the alley. Nowhere for anyone to run. The blood drinker could have escaped us then, but instead, he leaped down, grabbing me by my cloak and flinging me against the wall. I grunted from the pain of the impact as it felt like I’d shattered every bone in my body. My body felt crushed, and I was quite sure one of my ribs had been broken. The pain jabbing me in my side was making me gasp for air.
I struggled to my feet as I watched Ashur and Samuel do their best to defend against the beast. The monster was so strong, he grabbed the blade of Ashur’s sword and snapped it in two. He kicked Samuel, sending him flying into the other wall. Blood dripped from Samuel’s head as he slumped to the ground unconscious, or at least I hoped he was. My friend could very well be dead, and that thought invigorated me to seek revenge.
I climbed to my feet and charged forward. The blood drinker turned to me, holding Ashur before him. He grinned at me before sinking his fangs into Ashur’s neck.
“No!” I yelled and ran my sword through Ashur’s shoulder, piercing the blood drinker in his chest. He reared his head back, roaring in pain as Ashur screamed.
With all of my strength, I pushed the blade deeper, pinning them together. The blood drinker struck me, his arm swinging outward and flinging me to the ground. Again, all of the air was knocked out of me and I had to close my eyes and shake my head to clear my mind. When I opened my eyes, I saw the blood drinker reaching in front of Ashur to grip the handle of my sword. He began pulling my sword from Ashur’s shoulder and his own chest. I scrambled on the ground towards the broken part of Ashur’s sword that still had a shard of the blade attached. I picked it up and ran back over toward the blood drinker, now that he was weakened, and jammed the blade into his back just as he had removed my sword. He dropped my sword and Ashur fell to the ground, clutching his bleeding shoulder.
I kept my focus on the blood drinker since we had the advantage. For the first time ever, I could see the damage the silver blade caused. His flesh burned where the blade had pierced him. He screamed and flew into a rage, flailing his arms around as he desperately tried to remove the sword from his back. I picked up my sword, still dripping blood from both the blood drinker and Ashur. I quickly ran up to the enraged monster and swung my sword as hard as I could, slicing through his neck.
I had to swing twice, delivering my strongest blows to his neck, trying to sever his head from his body. I watched as my blade cut and seared the flesh of his neck until the head tumbled to the ground, the exposed neck stump smoldering from the silver of my sword. There was very little blood loss due to how effective the silver was at burning the flesh of these creatures.
My heart was pounding in my chest like a child frantically banging on a drum. The area began to spin around me, disorientating me. Nausea rose inside of me like a volcano erupting. I stumbled back, falling against the wall, then fell to my knees as I vomited what little I’d eaten into the dirt, grime, piss, and overall filth of the alley. I was shaking all over and unable to control it. The pain in my side was throbbing and I was becoming more aware of other aches my body was experiencing.
“Theodosius, are you… all right?” Ashur called out to me.
I blinked several times, trying very hard to focus on what was happening. I had killed my first blood drinker. It was a hard-fought battle, but I’d done it. The uncontrollable shaking began to calm and the pounding of my heart started to slow. I wiped my mouth of the foulness, then climbed back to my feet.
