Eagle

Luci remembered seeing Reno Kaiser a few times when he was assigned to go to Reno's coven as an escort for the heads of his own coven. Frankly, Luci never did like this man. And it seemed that the feeling was mutual. Luci actually felt that Reno hated him very much. That hatred all comes from the fact that Malena never cared for him and she was always after Luci.

But if there is one thing that Luci knew about Reno, it is that he was quite a powerful vampire. Even though his attitude was as breezy as the wind on the seaside during dawn, Luci never forgets to give others praise.

'So, the son of one of the heads of the Meranda coven is a traitor?', Luci says to himself as four horses pulling a carriage come into view from the woods.

'And here they come'

_____________________________________________

Luci watches intently as multiple figures in white step out of both carriages.

A look of confusion then appears on his face as he observes the scene happening in front of him.

'What's this? They don't seem like Awakened humans. They just look...', Luci ponders, thinking of the best word to describe the humans in white. '...normal.'

Now this is also very odd.

The angels normally have Awakened humans to go outside and take care of whatever business it is they have outside the walls. The very obvious reason is that they wouldn't risk the lives of humans at all. Especially if they're trading with the vampires.

Just then, Luci thought of another question to ask himself.

'Hold on, do the angels even know that this is happening? Is this something that they even planned to do in the first place?'

Luci had found it odd that angels would even think of doing business with vampires. They were the good guys, the humans loved them and believed in them wholeheartedly, and surely they wouldn't risk doing something that could ruin their reputation.

And just like that, Luci again found himself asking question after question after question.

'Do they know? If so, why are they okay with this? How long has this been going on? What are they hoping to achieve here?'

'And what do they get in return? Information?'

He has always been the type of person who tried to make sense of everything, no matter how small it is, which has led almost all vampires to think of him as a boring and pessimistic guy.

And as of now, he certainly displayed those qualities.

As he continues to lay his eyes upon the scene, he notices a man in white bowing his head in front of Reno and his group.

'So that guy is the leader', now he knew who was going to be representing the humans, like how he knew Reno was the leader of the dark-robed group. He was simply too prideful to let anybody else take the reins, so it didn't take much to figure it out.

At that moment, he notices that multiple dark-robed figures were checking the contents of the carriage.

'...sixty humans...'

He freezes over what he hears. He felt a quick chill run down his spine at what he just heard, he felt his body could have been colder than the snow it was resting on.

'Sixty?', he says to himself in shock.

When vampire covens transport humans, the average number of them would be around ten to twenty. Anything higher than twenty-five can be referred to as many.

'That many?!'

Luci kept listening to what the man in white had to say, and what he heard made him feel empty inside.

No, on the contrary, it made him feel like a deep dark abyss had been torn open from within his chest, and he felt himself falling into it, being consumed by it entirely.

'...below the age of ten.....too young to remember their parents'

'Children? Too young? Parents?', he repeats words that the man has just said, as he feels his body become heavier and heavier.

Flashes of light come into his head mercilessly, tormenting him with numerous scenes flowing in his mind simultaneously.

He was horrified as he saw blood everywhere, figures of black and white clashing with one another.

Then the noises come in, accompanying the scenes flashing inside his brain.

Screaming, lots of them. Humans? Vampires? Maybe even angels? He could not tell. Some sounded like cries for help. But there is one that stood out among the screaming.

"YOU!!! WHY???!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE???!!!"

The angry voice of a man overwhelmed the loudness of all the noises inside Luci's head.

'Calm down! Calm down! Don't think! Don't think! Don't think! Don't try to remember...', closing his eyes, shaking his head lightly. He then breathes heavily, in and out, repeating those same words over and over again.

He keeps doing this for a few seconds and is finally able to snap himself back into reality. His chest no longer felt heavy, and his breathing immediately returned to its normal rate. All the screams and cries have vanished as well.

'Calm down', he tells himself one last time before opening his eyes to look beyond the hills again.

'That's right. You are right here. You are fine. Focus.', he tells himself, now grabbing the sides of his head with both hands.

'Your job here isn't finished', Luci now stares daggers at the two men as they are both locked in a handshake. Both of them smiling genuinely.

'To smile like that despite knowing what those kids will have to go through?'

'Forgive me for this Reno', Luci says to himself while putting both his hands together. 'Despite our differences, we still belong in the same kind.'

Luci puts both his hands to his chest, each hand spreading, with the back of the right hand over the palm of the left. The thumbs of each hand face each other, as he intertwines them.

'It's a shame. You could have been of more use to us. We could have been allies and we could have fixed the world together. But what you are doing is betraying us. We can't have you living with us if you can't follow the law of our people.'

Luci then closes his eyes and breathes heavily. Now kneeling on his right knee, he starts to act.

"Contract of shadows, bounded by the darkest of black...", he says very quietly.

"lend me swiftness...",

As he chants these words, his body, still covered in darkness, undergoes another big change.

"...give me speed..."

Multiple dark spikes come out from both sides of his arms, extending further and further until it almost reaches down to the snowy surface. His head becomes longer as well, extending forward as a dark spike that seems to resemble the beak of a massive bird.

"...and let your feathers cut this world apart."

Luci then lifts both his arms, with his hands still spread and on top of one another. The side of his arms now pointing in front of him, directly towards the two men in the middle.

"Come to me..."

"...Eagle", he finally finishes chanting.

Instantly after that, two dark pieces of spikes leave his arms, both with ridiculous speed, slicing off the heads of both group's leaders. Sending both flying to the trees, splattering on the trees' bark, and rolling on the ground afterward.

"Farewell, my brethren", he says to himself softly, with the usual monotonous tone that he is known for.

_____________________________________________

"URGGHH!!!"

"AHHHH!!!"

Guttural screams fill the entire woods. Not even the loud sounds of the galloping of horses could cover the seemingly endless streak of cries of suffering. But there soon were a few noises being made that almost rivaled the loudness of the cries and screams.

"We will continue to live for today!"

"All of you will not be forgotten!"

"Each of you shall rise once again, at the side of the most Holiests!"

White-robed humans screamed at the top of their lungs as they rode the horses deeper into the woods. An endless stream of sweat shines flowing down their foreheads. Most of them also have had their clean white robes sullied by the red of blood.

"AHHHHHH!", more screams followed behind them. Even though they were moving at a very quick pace riding on horses, they could not seem to escape the sounds of horror from behind them.

Hearing the screams, a few humans riding on the horses decided to look back, trying to catch a glimpse of someone who might still be alive.

Not that it matters of course, since none of them would turn around to help even if someone is found alive.

"Do not look back!", one of the men at the back shouted to his companions in front of him, as he caught a glimpse of the few who turned their heads around.

"We made it out! And it is because the angels wanted us to live! We are the ones chosen to live another day! Our mission in this world is not yet finished!", he says to them, smiling maniacally.

Hearing this, some people in the group decided to join the man's enthusiasm.

"Yes! This is what they have planned for us!", a woman yelled.

"We will live for our comrades who gave their lives!", a younger man yelled.

This gave the rest of the group hope, their eyes now shining with determination.

At this point, the screaming from behind has now stopped, now being replaced by the joyous outbursts of the group.

'Yes, we are alive right now!', one of the men who turned his head around before thinks to himself. 'And we will keep on living!"

With a newfound purpose, the man looks at the others in front of him, unable to contain his smile. He sees them raise their hands in over their heads, screaming loudly in triumph. He admired their courage and their will to keep on living. Their positive thinking given the situation was infectious to him, and it consumed him almost immediately.

'I was a fool for even having doubts in mind! But now I finally realize it! This is us! This is the power of humanity!', he chuckles to himself.

'To keep on moving forward! And to keep on living! And no one is going to take that away from us! Never!'

He then decides to turn around. This time, not to look at his companions who had been left behind, but instead, to thank the man who gave the group the strength to believe.

With a wide grin on his face, he does just that. "Thank you miste-"

He turns his head around, expecting the other man to be looking back at him.

He instead sees the body of the man riding on a horse, but this time, with no upper body to be found, blood spraying from where his abdomen used to be.

The scene never registered in his head, as he was still grinning from ear to ear.

"Huh?", was the only word he could let out.

Just after that, he heard a deep voice behind him speak.

"You fuckers sure talk a lot"