Chapter 6: Dark Necessities

Assar

Assar moved towards the three humans, with grim resolve. He had done this before, and he knew he would do it again. No one knew quite what race the first vampire was, or if it was just a unique mutation born of mother nature. What was known though, was that when those who were not pure-blooded vampires were bitten they began to turn. They would become the lowest of the vampire classes, a thrall. Yet as a thrall, they would retain the unique characteristics of their former species.

Unfortunately, the process of turning warped the mind of the victim. It turned them into devoted slaves to the higher classes of vampire society, but especially to the ones that turned them. That is why one of the thralls had attacked Assar during the fight. He chided himself for not realizing the possibility of their interference. The mind of the thrall who had attacked him must have been especially weak-willed for him to have already developed the fanatical loyalty that thralls possessed when fed upon by a vampire.

The process could be stopped if treated within the first day of infection. After that, it was irrevocable, at least as far as Assar knew, and he had consulted with many researchers and scholars across the world as he traveled, and they had all agreed that no cure existed for late-stage infection. The only thing to do was to put the wretches out of their misery. Which is exactly what Assar intended to do.

He stopped in front of the three humans and looked them over. The two men looked to be of similar age, around the early twenties. They had the look of men who had worked on farms their whole lives. These must have been the two farmers who had been taken. The woman however was much older, with a full head of gray hair, and a slightly hunched back. She was the baker who had gone missing. He had seen her description in the list of missing persons in the contract he had accepted. His musings were interrupted though by the man who had attacked him.

“You bastard! You killed my master! I’ll kill you!”

The man got to his feet and rushed at Assar with righteous anger. Assar had been ready for it though. With a resigned manner, he drew back his sword and in one quick slash, cut the man’s head from his shoulders. The body immediately went limp and collapsed to the floor as it twitched in a vain attempt to pump blood to a head that was no longer there.

Assar knelt down and closed the man's eyes before standing up and facing the remaining two. He pointed his sword at them and said, “May you find peace with whatever god you worship.”

The other man looked at Assar with mounting fear as he stuttered, “W-w-w-what?! Wait, what are you doing?! You are supposed to rescue us! We-“

He never got to finish his sentence as he too decapitated the man. Just like his fellow he slumped to the floor and lay lifeless in a pool of his own blood. Assar then drew back his blade, to strike down the older woman, and as he did so he saw the resignation in her eyes. The older woman must have known why he was doing this, and she wasn’t going to plead for mercy. But she did want to ask a question first.

“How do you do it son? I am old but I know why you are doing this. We can’t have been the first, how do you shoulder this burden?” The old woman asked in a sympathetic tone.

Assar stopped for a moment and took a deep breath before exhaling and saying, “Someone has to. If I didn’t kill those who have been bitten, they would all turn into monsters, and the vampires I rid the world of will have been replaced by their victims. I’ve been doing this for over half my life, and this is always the worst part. I threw up after my first. I learned that the faster I get it done, the easier it is on my conscience.”

Sadness and pity passed over the old woman’s face, as she said “I forgive you, boy, do what you must. I will not make it any harder than it already is.”

Assar nodded at the old woman’s courage, and without another second of hesitation, he ended her life in the same fashion as the other two men. Assar lowered his blade, as he looked upon his grizzly work. He sighed in exhaustion and resignation.

“That never gets easier,” Assar growled out loud as he turned to the form of the high vampire.

Assar remembered the first time he had been forced to accept the reality that the best option for those already too far down the path of turning was to end them. While he knew that the vampire lands far to the north where hundreds of thousands of vampires lived along with numerous thralls would always exist, at least they relatively kept to themselves and didn’t invade the other kingdoms.

When they turned blood-crazed though, the only cure was a swift and merciless death. Thralls of blood-crazed vampires could be as large an issue as a single powerful blood-crazed vampire, and even though Assar knew the best option was to put them down.

“But that doesn’t mean I ever have to enjoy it!” Assar said out loud as he spat to the side as if it would get the bad taste, of what was required of him, out of his mouth

While a blood-crazed vampire superior or below would more often than not just kill and completely drain a victim. Those of the high, or gods forbid, a sanguine class that went blood-crazed, would turn entire villages and towns if they could to feed their endless hunger. And when those they turned, could then in turn help to infect others. It was a vicious cycle, and Assar was glad he was able to catch this infection in its earlier stages.

Putting his musings aside, Assar moved over to the fallen form of the high vampire. He looked down on the creature in disgust and drew back his sword. With a feeling of satisfaction this time, he brought the blade down and decapitated his prey. He would need it as proof to recive payment of his contract. Before he wrapped the head up though, he knelt by the form of the vampire and pulled several empty vials from his belt. While Assar had resisted his urges to feed on the other races of the world, knowing that doing so too often would turn him into a fully-fledged vampire, as a half-blood he could feed on Vampiric blood in far larger quantities without worrying about turning. Though he knew it was possible if he drank too much of it, it was the best way to keep his appetites at bay. Plus it had the added benefit of enhancing his abilities. High vampire blood was rare, and he wanted to save as much as he could. Unfortunately, the process of collecting it had to be done almost immediately after death. After many years of this practice, Assar had calculated he had three to four minutes to collect as much blood as was possible.

This time around he only managed six vials. Still, those six vials would last him for a long time. He didn’t often fight or hunt monsters that would require him to use anything higher than a vial of superior blood, the one he had drank today had been his first in over a year. Still, the more he had on hand for emergencies the better.

Once he had filled all his vials and stored them in his belt, he picked up the vampire’s head and wrapped it in a large cloth he had brought for this express purpose. He then walked over to the thralls he had killed at the beginning of the fight and cut off an ear from each. He would get a small bonus by turning these into the nearest guild representative.

The bodies though, he left where they lay. He would inform the village folk of the whereabouts of the cave, and let them clean up the mess. His job was done and now it was time to go get paid.