1 The Battle of Ivayla

The Vampire King Cliff Narcainan walked quickly through a burning village. He was feeling disoriented and had a cold sweat. What was this feeling? He stopped for a moment, collected his thoughts then turned to run in the direction he came from. There was something he needed to do. Something important.

***

Wesley felt nothing but heat all around him. His lungs were exhausted and his head felt like it was in a vice. He felt something shaking him, and his eyelids opened, and it was then that he saw it. It was crimson eyes and golden hair illuminated by the flames around them. He was on the ground, and she was shaking him with a look of distress in her face.

"Sir! Sir! Are you alright?! Oh Thank goodness! It looks like you're still alive!" She said with a whimper of relief. She then gasped as she saw a tall figure with glimmering white hair stand over her and Wesley, who was covered in injuries.

"What are you doing Ingrid?" Asked the man who was clad in uniform.

"This man was in one of the collapsed buildings, I was..."

The man said nothing but instead looked at the boy then turned away to his own business. He then stopped before telling her: "Be glad you father hasn't seen this." the man said.

Ingrid nodded, and got up to leave the scene when Wesley grabbed her shirt.

"Wait..." Wesley called weakly. "Who...are..."

Ingrid knelt down then grabbed his hand and held it. At that moment, Wesley couldn't feel the heat of the burning village around him, couldn't smell the smoke and fumes, couldn't hear the screams and howls, the panicked village, or the collapsing desolation. All he could feel was Ingrid's warm gentle hand reassuring him that everything would be alright.

He then fell asleep from exhaustion, and once she made sure that he was safe and was still breathing, Ingrid left the scene. Soon she was greeted by her father, the leader of this attack who was at that moment finishing sucking the blood from a human being. From first glance you would have never known that he was her father for they both looked to be relatively close in age.

"Ah, Ingrid. Did you find any satisfaction dear?" he asked her.

Ingrid stayed silent.

"You still sympathize with these humans then? I figured as much."

Ingrid sighed then looked up towards him with a face of weary.

"I found some blood, and even I'll admit it's much better fresh, but it still bothers me that we have to cause so much suffering to achieve it." she said.

"To be a human is to suffer, but I suppose that might reign true for all creatures in this world. It would be easy to dwell on how unfortunate we must be to be born this way, and then to be falsely accused of it being our faults. Humans are so arrogant and blind! They can't see past their own suffering even for a moment, and that is why I take such pleasure in draining their lives this way."

"But not all humans are like that." Ingrid remarked.

"No, but enough are that it makes my blood boil. But I suppose that human blood is the best, so it would be best to allow them to remain a part of this world even though I would be happy if they were all erased from existence!"

"Father!" Called a voice in the distance.

Ingrid and her father then looked to see a figure running towards them. It was Audrey the second oldest child of the King.

"Audrey! What's going on?!" He asked her.

"It's Captain Fred and his soldiers!" Audrey explained.

"Captain Fred? How did he find us so quickly?!"

"That isn't all father. He also has Sir Ted with him!"

"Sir Ted is here?! Get me Yosef right now Audrey!"

Audrey nodded then left to do as her father instructed. Tension rose as the vampires were made aware of the situation. They had attacked a village in the dead of night miles from their last raid and miles away from the capital city of the kingdom of Halvor. This wasn't an accident that Captain Fred had found them. This was planned.

It wasn't long before Yosef, the chief captain and the white haired man who had seen Ingrid before had heard the situation and presented himself to Ingrid's father, the king of the Vampires.

"Yosef, first I need you to come closer."

Yosef obeyed and the king slipped a vial into his hand. Yosef looked up expectantly.

"Under no circumstances will you let this fluid touch the lips of a vampire with pure blood."

"Wait did you-"

"Not another word. The power is more potent than I realized so be aware."

"How should we respond to the situation, sire?" Yosef asked

"We just do. A retreat is only going to do so much, so our best bet is to at least weaken them and then retreat. Get anyone who isn't a soldier out of here first, then take the rest and form a line in front of them to ensure a safe retreat. I will confront Sir Ted, and once I break him we can finish and leave."

"Face Sir Ted?! What if you're not strong enough, your highness?!"

The King gave his captain a long cold glare with his piercing crimson eyes.

"Well then I'll die won't I?" The King said in conclusion.

***

As Captain Fred approached the burning village he scowled. He hated the vampires with a passion that could only be matched by the passion of his companion Sir Ted who also hated the vampires.

"Look at what these filthy vermin did to this village! I'm not sure there will be many people left to save, but if the Vampires have departed this scene they won't be far behind, and that's when we'll cut them off!" Captain Fred remarked.

Suddenly a scout approached the captain.

"Sir! The Vampires are still there, and it appears they're grouping up to meet us in combat!" said the scout.

"And is the King among them scout?" asked the man the Vampires feared, Sir Ted.

The scout nodded. Sir Ted then handed off three silver arrows to Captain Fred.

"You know what to do with these." Sir Ted said.

Within moments the two armies met and were now clashing together. All vampires with the ability to fight helped to fend off the human army led by Captain Fred. Among these fighters were the King's children Ingrid, Audrey, and his son Lupin. When comparing numbers, the human army had a severe edge over the vampires with an army of 200 soldiers including Sir Ted and 4 other vampire hunters. The Vampires on the other hand numbered about 35, but regardless of their small numbers they were a force to be reckoned with.

One Vampire named Giles cut off a soldier's head then place it on a pike to chase and scare other soldiers with. Another named Duvoc duly severed arms from enemy soldiers then placed them neatly on a pile. Another named Silvio gouged out eyes and nothing more, and another named Irmina robbed the dead bodies of any money they had.

Vampires had the ability to heal quickly, and could even accelerate that healing if they consumed blood. The only real way for the soldiers to kill a vampire was to either cut of it's head, or to gouge it's heart out. The Vampire hunters on the other hand had special weapons that made killing Vampires that much more efficient.

Wounds to a vampire from weapons made of silver could not heal. Holy water burned their skin and slowed regeneration. The smell of garlic was nauseating to the point of tears and vomiting, and a crucifix driven through the heart of a vampire would instantly kill them. But even with all these tools, killing vampires was no easy task. A vampire had heightened senses and physical prowess making even a novice Vampire difficult to kill without proper training. A vampire with actual combat experience was even more deadly and in some cases impossible to kill.

The King himself fought with a spear and was known as a nightmare for those who challenged him. Many soldiers stayed away from him, but there were a few that tried to approach him, yet they still trembled when he met their attacks without fear. Even garlic was barely effective against one who spent years building a tolerance for it. It was then that the one being who stood a chance against the Vampire King, and at the same time not a chance approached.

"If it isn't his royal highness King Cliff of the bloody horizon." Sir Ted remarked, brandishing his silver sword. Around his neck was a crucifix and at his side were three vials of Holy water. This man was a vampire hunter, the most ruthless one in the entire kingdom.

"Sir Ted, Ew..." the king responded.

"It's Amusing that filth like you would find me distasteful, but enough idle banter. Your villainy has gone on for long enough."

"And yet as long as it has gone on you still cannot find me on your own? It is that fact, and that fact alone that I find disgusting. Although your arrogance might be a little distasteful as well should it grow any larger, so I suppose I must try to cut you down to size."

The two foes brandished their weapons looking on each other with disgust then clashed sending a shockwave through the battlefield that was felt by everyone within a 10 mile radius. Upon seeing the king fight their champion Sir Ted, many human soldiers realized the difference in power and fled the battle in fear of the great Vampire King's prowess.

Sir Ted himself was nothing to scoff at, but even he was sweating. Some soldiers and vampires kept fighting. Many stopped to watch the spectacle before them. Never before had anyone seen such a skilled spearman, and never again did they ever see one with such mastery of the weapon. Sir Ted's armor did well to protect him at many points throughout the match, but he had anticipated that this would be the outcome.

Sir Ted launched two vials of holy water at the King forcing him back as dodging to the left or right would mean dancing in the path of the Holy water. This was the first time in the battle the King had stayed in one place more than 3 second during the battle. Sir Ted then looked past the King and gave out a sign with his hand.

It was a whoosh and a thud as an arrow with a silver head went through the back of the king's shoulder nearly bringing him to the ground. The vampire king looked behind for a moment to see Captain Fred with a crossbow aimed at him. He then dodged quickly as Sir Ted moved in on an opening. The King's movements were weakening from the severe pain to his shoulder, but even then, it wasn't quite enough to disadvantage him.

Another arrow then hit the king, this time in his leg, but it wasn't enough. The king was still overpowering the vampire hunter easily. Captain Fred Scowled then strapped a crucifix to the last arrow he had. He then waited for an opening then shot it straight into the king's heart, and it was there that he died.

It didn't take long for the news to spread and for panic to ensue between all the other Vampires. Lupin rushed to hold off Sir Ted while Audrey recovered their father's body. Ingrid was in a panic and lost her composure for a moment as she watched her father die. Once the body was recovered they all withdrew and Lupin gave the order to Yosef to organize a full retreat. By the time the vampires had escaped, the human army had lost 120 of it's soldiers along with 2 vampire hunters. The Vampires had lost 15 of their fighters with most of them being non soldiers.

Sir Ted sat on the pile of severed arms while putting his broken arm in a sling. The king was dead now, and that was enough for him. He had lost two hunters though, and that would not be easy to replace, in fact, it might take years when the news came of how many casualties this battle produced.