Chapter 23

At the massive passageway, the ancient vampire, Ellon Achlys, dashed through the sparse brush surrounding the mighty murky cedars, easily twisting his spear to avoid tangling low hanging branches, passing Daniel and Abrianna. His mighty, powerful self, moved in one fluid motion, his long silver hair flowing behind him. Three of his vampire servants trailed behind him, clad in dark leather coats, carrying spears and arrows with toxic werewolf blood on their tips.

Landrie, Ellon's protégé, ran fast, knocking his arrow and aiming the flint tip at the prey. The target was a gigantic feral abomination, a silver monster with a double set of bat-like wings, talons for feet, and a ghastly-looking demon face. The arrow, loosed too quickly, buried itself in the tree inches from the demon's head. The vile creature let loose a shriek that pierced Daniel's ears and fluttered with increased frenzy.

Daniel, watching from a distance, shivered. Surely, he had never seen such a gigantic and dreadful demon before, let alone one as hellish as this one.

A second demon panicked and almost ran into the first one. They both flitted erratically around the thick dark trees, seeking shelter from their pursuers' missiles. Unable to find an opening through the heavy canopy of foliage overhead to reach the sky and freedom, they split apart to escape their predators.

The ancient vampire gestured to his men to split as well, two on one. Landrie and the female vampire veered into Ellon's footsteps after the first demon. The other two turned after the second one.

"Look at how the vampire hunts a demon, Daniel... Look closely, those demons were spies," Abrianna thought, scouts for the Council and the close allies of the witches, gathering information on the last of the vampire clan evading the conquering will of their demon lords. The vampire may have started the day hunting for food, but these things are no food for them. They must destroy them all, otherwise, they will keep on multiplying."

"I thought Ellon was the maker of vampires and demons? Then why hunt them?" Daniel asked his curiosity clearly on edge.

"Those demons were once humans. They were turned into vampires by him, but their blood hadn't accepted the vampire's essence, so after biting them, they turned into demons. They become untamable, feral, and mostly the vampire hunts them because they could turn into humans... well-um... like them."

Until now, Ellon had managed to avoid detection by staying nomadic and hiding in the forest with his people in his magical dark temple. The 17th century was nothing less than the previous centuries, where his kind had been hunted by witches and councils. His clan had originally settled the city of Desmond in the midst of the southern plains generations ago. Humans were gullible enough to trade their blood for silver, but those days were over when witches, werewolves, and vampires became rampant and humans began hunting their kind. His father, one of the first seeds of Cain, was the priest-king of the city-state, and Ellon had inherited the position as a young man. But when the pantheon of supernatural councils extended their dominion throughout Europe, his clan left the city because of their dedication to preserving their kind. They became drifters and roamed the forests, wastelands, and mountains.

Ellon's clan had traversed all these territories and had found the forests to be the most inhabitable. But as his people grew in number, presently a few dozen, it was becoming more difficult to pick up quickly and move without the council sending hunters. If one of these damnable creatures got away and reported to the councils, Ellon's clan would be in jeopardy. They would run to the mountains, where the council refused to follow them. The desert was bone dry, scorching, and brutal for his kind; they weren't afraid of the sun, but it burned their skin when they were exposed for too long, and mountain life was no better for raising a clan like the ancient vampire dwellers who died out long ago. There were not many of them left, and he was determined to remain one of them. As the only ancient one, he became their lord. Not to mention those demons who lost their minds in the call of their bloodlust and had been the target of the councils who wanted his kind vanished from the face of the earth, but his hope had resurfaced when he was approached by a rogue witch. She offered her alliance and her son in exchange for greater power. But for now, he had business to attend to, and the witch and her son could wait.

His desperate need fueled him. Ellon's spirit surged. His team spread out and surrounded their demon. To his wonder, he never thought of them penetrating his temple. He had not anticipated that his haven could be penetrated from above. Hindered by the closeness of the trees and underbrush, the creature's wings slowed its progress, and the pursuit steadily gained ground. The demon twisted and turned in confusion. With the desperation of a cornered animal, the quarry looked for an opening to strike back at the hunters.

Landrie glanced away to check his position. He nearly ran headlong into an old oak tree.

The massive demon pounced in that instant. It took its eyes off Ellon for one moment to swoop down.

That was all Ellon needed. He drew back and released his spear with the power of an arm accustomed to strenuous labor plus his blinding speed. The wooden shaft flew straight into the breast of the creature with such force that it impaled the demon's body and pinned it into a tree. It screeched its last shriek and died, black blood oozing down the rough bark of the cedar.

Ellon and Landrie approached the beast. Their silver long hair flowed over their animal skins as the ancient one dove his fangs into the enormous demon's neck and drove his final demise while Landrie was on the smaller beast. Ellon knew that it gave the council the impression of uncivilized beastliness. But they would be mistaken. His lineage was highly civilized, and their earthiness was a deliberate expression of their refusal to worship the supernatural council. However, there were many vampires who were also the descendants of Cain, and they were proud to be separate from the rest of humanity, who had rejected Cain's leadership and descended into the worship of the lords of the land. The humans. But Ellon felt that his vampire clans could rightly be called the last of Cain's seeds who fought for his greatness.

And though Ellon was over one thousand years old and in his prime as the leader of his people. But this was the middle age in a community of bloodsuckers where many lived as long as three or more thousand years. As Landrie was his apprentice, they were as close as brothers in their congregation. They did everything together and protected one another, but he was nothing but a servant to Ellon. After all, he was without a family. He trusted no one.

"Stand back!" Landrie snapped at the rest. "These things are treacherous. They will feign death just to take one of us with them to the grave. If its talons get hold of you, we will have to cut your arm off to free you."

Its death throes were genuine. The demon's legs twitched, and the last of its air gurgled from its lungs.

"It stinks like excrement," Daniel exclaimed from afar, making Ellon furrow his brow and smirk when he saw the young boy with his hand over his nose in disgust.

"It is an abomination," said Adriana as Landrie reached up and jerked the spear out of the monster's mouth and licked its vile blood from his lips, letting it drop to the dark forest floor in a heap. He handed the spear to Ellon.

"Sire, it is getting worse. There will soon be nowhere to hide. We cannot run forever."

Ellon ignored the point. He prodded the creature with the tip of his spear, exposing a brand of Cain's name in symbols on the twitching leg. "This is a scout of the Desmond pack of werewolves. The Jaguar."

"We killed a scout of the Jaguars?" exclaimed Landrie. "In our territory?"

Ellon nodded.

"Quiet your fear, boy," Ellon mumbled. "We bow to no dogs… their blood might be lethal to us, but without the help of witches, they are just easy prey."

"No dogs… but sire," Landrie amended.

Ellon shot an irritated glance at Landrie, then caught himself and nodded reluctantly. This was a sensitive issue for Ellon. He was not always on speaking terms with the councils, who seemed to be quite distant, only conferring with crazy men like his servants and leaving so much to the demon angels to do their bidding just to anger him with so much loathing that somehow it felt rather comical on his part.

However, Ellon had served the supernatural council for hundreds of years through the thick and thin, from the dark ages to the 16th century, but they betrayed him, and he was not someone who could easily forget such betrayal. He remained loyal to his generation. He walked upright and kept separate from the pollution of the city and the supernatural folks who came from the depths of mortals' nightmares and sought to mix their blood with humanity. Ellon's kind and the other supernatural travelers refused to worship these pretenders to the throne of the council and refused to participate in their corrupting sorceries.

But this was not enough for Ellon. Though he knew the council was the judge among their immortal kinds, he sometimes felt that there was little difference between the servitude Ellon Achlys expected and the servitude that the city councils demanded of their subjects. A council was a leader, after all, and in either case, humans were servants and sustenance, but they betrayed him and killed the woman he cared most for.