A Natural

"It's just you here?!" Aurik practically shouted. "How are we supposed to defend this place with just the two of us?"

"It won't be as hard as you think. Mages take a long time to cast powerful spells so if we attack them quickly they shouldn't be able to use anything more than their most basic spells. As long as we aren't too outnumbered then it should be possible even if we're just Soldiers!" The guard raised his closed fist resolutely as confidence oozed from his voice.

Even Aurik felt more confident now, which surprised him greatly. He was never one to let his emotions be influenced by the words of others, especially not a stranger, but for some reason this random Vampire he had just met managed to make him feel a sense of confidence that shouldn't be there given the situation.

"We can't just wait for them to get here." Aurik said, trying to push his feelings aside. "We should hide and ambush them when they arrive, that way we can reduce their numbers before they have a chance to attack us."

"Oooh! That's a great idea!" The guard had a devious smile on his face. "Come on, I'll give you one of the weapons the guards use, that way you'll actually be able to do something when the fighting starts."

Aurik looked down at the guard's waist, or rather at the weapon hanging there. It was clearly a sword of some kind but he wasn't knowledgeable enough to know what kind. The handle was wrapped in brown leather and everything else seemed to be made of silver coloured steel. 

The blade was not visible as a brown leather sheathe, that matched the handle wrap, was covering it entirely. If he had to make a guess then Aurik would have said the blade was somewhere around 80 centimetres long (31 Inches).

"Lead the way." Aurik spoke with confidence and gestured towards the warehouse before promptly following the guard. He may have sounded confident but Aurik had only just realised the gravity of the situation.

'I didn't think things through because I was short on time but I'm going to have to fight when the mages arrive... I've been in fights before but that was against school boys, regular human teenagers. This will be a fight between supernatural beings who can use magic and I happen to be the only vampire who can't use any.' 

Aurik's thoughts were causing his chest to tighten with fear and anxiety. He had heard from Jessie that whenever a Vampire encounters a Therian or a Mage it almost always ends in violence and that violence almost always ends with death.

'I might have to kill someone... If I don't then I'll be the one to die.' Aurik tightened his fists and took a deep breath. 'I'll have to do it eventually anyways if I want to achieve my goals, so why not get it over with as soon as possible so it's easier later on.'

The guard led Aurik around the side of the warehouse to a different but connected building. This separate building was quite small, to the point where Aurik felt it was even smaller than his old apartment.

The guard used a key to open the door and walked inside with Aurik following behind. The interior consisted of one large room with two doors in total, there was the one the pair just entered through and then another which clearly led into the warehouse.

There were a total of 6 lockers attached to the far wall and a table with four chairs around it adorned the centre of the room. The guard walked over to the lockers without hesitation and opened the one on the far left, immediately pulling out a sheathed sword and closing the locker again.

"Alright here you go... uh, what was your name again?" The guards words made both men realise that they had never bothered to exchange their names.

"Aurik."

"I'm Reggie."

The two shook hands like they had just met before Reggie handed the sword over to Aurik. He had never held a sword before and expected it to feel heavier but after remembering his increased strength the weightless feeling made sense.

He partially unsheathed the sword, admiring and studying the blade with awe. He had never seen a sword up close before and just like any man he was always wanted to have one.

"Give it a few swings." Reggie said before taking several steps back. "You shouldn't fight with a weapon you've never even swung before, right? So get a feel for it before things get messy around here."

Aurik nodded in understanding and unsheathed the sword completely, holding it in his right hand. It felt amazing to hold, like having an additional arm attached to his hand. He lifted the sword up and swung down and to the left in a diagonal slash before quickly lifting the sword and performing a horizontal slash from left to right.

Swinging the sword made Aurik's blood pump just a little faster and he couldn't help but feel excited, just like a child who received a new toy. He continued to swing the sword in different directions and even started moving around with small steps as he did so. 

Swinging the sword felt amazing but more than that it felt natural, like he was meant to be doing so. With every swing he performed the following one was more precise and after a few dozen swings his movements stopped looking clumsy.

"Fucking hell..." Reggie's eyes were wide open as he stared at Aurik with shock.

Aurik stopped his practice and looked at Reggie quizzingly. "Is it that bad?" He asked, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"No!" Reggie stuck out his hands as he shouted, like he was trying to hold something away from himself. "It's the opposite! You have some serious talent with the sword!"

Aurik didn't know what to say so he just stared at Reggie as he continued to speak. 

"This will make things easier for sure! I was worried you wouldn't be a good fighter and when I saw your first few swings I got worried because I could see you had never swung a sword before, but it seems you might have some talent for it! Even without any training I'm confident you should be able to hold your own."

Reggie seemed genuinely excited as he walked over to the door that led to the warehouse and opened it. 

"Come on, lets get ready to greet the bastards who think it's a good idea to attack the Vampires!"