A Hero's Journey

A young man stood at the edge of a cliff, high on a mountainside. He was six feet and four inches of muscle, the kind of build that disappears under clothes. His black hair has just enough curl to be unruly, it's long enough that it hangs over his ears but doesn't quite reach his shoulders. He's wearing a dark brown tunic with black pants, a short sword is sheathed at his side.

His grey eyes are staring off into the horizon where the half moon rests amongst the stars. At his feet rests a hellhound. As he stands there he's thinking back on the last thirty years of his life and how much things have changed.

"I think I've got everything packed in your bag. Your bedroll is tied to the bag. I also packed a collar in here for Vail that will allow him to look like a regular dog."

An old woman speaks as she walks up to him. She's wearing a simple dress, her grey hair is tied back. Her face is wrinkled and her appearance says that she is in her fifties, but her voice and the way she walks says that she is much younger. The truth is that fifty is just a child in her eyes.

"Thank you, auntie Nora, I appreciate it."

He turns around with a smile and takes the satchel from her. He puts it on so that it sits opposite of his sword and across his chest. He takes a step forward and pulls her into a hug.

"I'm going to miss all of you."

"We will miss you. I know that you will do well and expect to hear about all of your adventures when you return."

She steps out of the hug and they walk towards the cave that was opposite the cliff's edge. Waiting by the cave's entrance are three men; to the left is a man with short silver hair and dark blue eyes, next to him is a man with brown hair that's tied back and brown eyes, to the right is a man with long, curly red hair and green eyes. While the silver haired man is taller than the other two, the young man is taller than all of them.

"Derrick, my child, be safe on your journey."

The young man smiled as he locked hands with the silver haired man before him. He had cast away his human name the night he had become a vampire, taking on a new name for his new life. He still found himself caught off guard whenever his new name was used.

"You be safe as well, father. I expect you to be around when my journey ends."

Teril smiles and pulls Derrick in for a hug. He's struggling too much with the thought of the boy traveling alone. Mostly because they've been together for over twenty years. What will I do without the child?

Derrick turns to the man standing next to Teril who is barely holding in tears. They hug and when Derrick steps away he finds that Dagan is silently crying.

"Take care of my father, Dagan."

"Of course, master. Be safe, but don't forget to enjoy the journey."

Derrick nods and turns to the last man.

"Don't let anyone treat you with disrespect. You can be kind and merciful, but never forget that you are a prince."

Derrick laughs and the two hug.

"I won't forget your lesions, uncle Karson."

"A hero's journey is an important rite of passage that too few practice any more. Your journey won't always be easy, but the companions that you meet along the way will help to ease the trials of your journey."

Karson's words struck him deeply. He knew all about his father's hero's journey, a journey that had been joined by Nora and Karson as well as two others who had been lost. During his father's journey he had killed gods, been cursed, and changed the course of the world. Derrick knew that none of them expected him to come close to such an epic journey, but he wanted to at least come close. Derrick wanted to leave his mark, based on his achievements.

"Don't forget to travel during the day to keep away unnecessary attention. Travel as far away from human villages and cities as you can."

"I know, father, and I will. We've talked and made plans, and we've traveled together enough over the years that I know how to stay safe."

Nora coughed and Teril looked at her with narrowed eyes. "I just want to make certain that you're safe."

While they were talking Dagan left and went into the cave. He returned a moment later with a black cloak that he held out for Derrick.

"I brought this cloak for you to take. The fabric has been woven with werewolves fur, it's something we do to help us identify each other. So long as you are wearing this anyone with a nose will know that you are a friend."

Derrick took the cloak and put it on, "Thank you. I'm going to miss all of you. I know that I'll have Vail with me, but I still feel lonely knowing that I'll be traveling without all of you. I will check in as often as possible."

He stood tall, hand on the hilt of his sword, and took a deep breath.

"I am Derrick, son of the vampire king. I will do my best to bring honor to my father and my family."

He bowed towards the four people that he had called his family for the past twenty plus years. He wanted to do them proud and would put forth his best efforts. When he stood up he turned away and swept his cloak to the side as dragon wings appeared on his back. He stepped off the edge of the cliff, the hellhound following close behind. Derrick turned around to wave goodbye to his family before flying away.

"He will be ok, Teril, we raised him well."

"I know, Nora. I'm proud of the man he's become."

*******

When Derrick landed at the base of the mountain range he put away his wings. He paused long enough to put the collar on Vail. He didn't need anyone coming after him because he was traveling with a hellhound. When they had traveled before they had always made a point of staying away from humans. This time around Nora knew that he wouldn't be as cautious.

Derrick had a skill that would keep even the strongest hunter from knowing he was a vampire; day walking. He had discovered it shortly after he became a vampire. They had all done their fair share of speculating, and in the end it was decided that his being a hunter caused the mutation.

"Come, Vail, it's time to see the world and make some friends."

In the ten years that he's been a vampire they had stopped traveling. He had been focusing on adjusting to his new state. Even before that, though, they had avoided humans. Forests had been his main view while traveling. Derrick wants to truly experience the world.

Derrick and Vail traveled for almost a month before they came across their first village. He had chosen to travel on a main road after the first week, camping out at night so that he would blend in with the humans if he happened to come across one.

The village was rather large with about twenty homes scattered about in a rough circular formation. Along the main road there was a black smith shop and a shop that sold a variety of items. The people were friendly as Derrick walked down the road.

While he was looking around he wasn't paying attention and felt something hit him. When he looked down he saw a young child who wasn't more than five or six had run into him.

"S-sorry, mister…"

There were several kids to the side and it appeared that they had been playing. The child that had run into him had taken a step back and ended up falling to the ground.

"You're fine, I wasn't watching where I was going."

Derrick offered a hand to the child, as he did so he caught sight of a ball that had rolled past him. So that's what they were doing.

"Are you ok?"

The child stood and nodded his head. "Yes, mister."

Derrick picked up the ball and handed it to the child who smiled brightly in return.

"Thank you!"

He ran off to join his friends. Derrick couldn't help but smile. He vaguely remembered playing ball with his friends when he was younger. Teril had played with him a few times. Dagan had been the one who had played ball with him, incorporating it into his daily training while making it fun.

"It's not often I see an outsider who is so kind to children."

Derrick turned to look at the man who had walked up to him. He was a broad man full of muscles that were clearly visible under the black apron. The man had brown hair that was mostly grey, brown eyes that were sharp and watching everything. He offered a hand as Derrick turned around. Derrick took the offered hand.

"Name is Amos, I'm the black smith. Most outsiders would have scolded the kids, or worse, actually hit them."

"Derrick. They're just kids, they shouldn't be punished for being kids."

Amos felt weird having to look up at the young man. He's used to being the tallest in the village, but this young man is a good three inches taller.

"Are you planning to stay long?"

"I'm not sure, not longer than a night if I do."

Amos motioned for Derrick to follow and they sat down on chairs that were setup just outside the black smith's shop. Inside the shop the two apprentices were still working.

"Where are you traveling to, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I don't really have a direction. This is my first time away from home and I've only been traveling for about a month."

"Ho, that's not long. There isn't much out that way within a month's travel."

Derrick chuckled, "I've lived a pretty isolated life with my father and aunt."

Vail set his front paws on Derricks lap and let out a single bark as if reminding him that he forgot someone.

"Yes, you too."

"If you'd like, you're welcome to stay the night at my place. You'll want to be careful traveling after you leave here. We've heard reports of werewolves running around. Someone as young as you traveling alone would be easy prey for them."

"I will be sure to keep my wits about me. Have they been attacking a lot of people?"

Derrick wanted to scold the old man, but kept it to himself. He knew well the skewed view that humans had towards anything that wasn't human.

"A few caravans have been hit. I haven't heard of a village being attacked, but I'm sure it's only time. There is a hunter's village that is a week or two out. Rumor is that they've been sent out to exterminate the werewolf pack."

"Maybe I'll get lucky in my travels and they will be taken care of."

Their conversation was interrupted when a ball rolled into Derricks leg. He chuckled and picked up the ball then got up to return it to the kids.

"Mind if I play with you?"

He knew he should continue talking with the blacksmith, but playing ball with the group of kids sounded like a lot more fun.

"Sure!"

The kids called out. Derrick excused himself and went to play with the kids. The blacksmith watched them play for a moment before returning to his work. He couldn't understand how someone that old could still act so young, or how he was going to survive traveling a land full of monsters.

Derrick played ball with the kids until it neared nightfall. He took the blacksmith's invite and spent the night at his home. During dinner the blacksmith shared all the gossip he knew. Derrick didn't have to pry, the blacksmith was more than willing to stay up all night talking.

At first light Derrick continued his journey. He had enjoyed the company, but traveling and being surrounded by nature was home for Derrick and he had missed it the short time he spent in the village.

Twilight had just embraced the land when Derrick smelled blood. It was strong enough that he could tell that it was human. He cautiously moved forward towards the origin of the smell. About half a mile down the road he turned into the woods. It was within the woods, behind a large bush that he found the body of a human female laying on the ground.

She looked to be in her early twenties with black hair and a muscular frame. Her clothes, a dark blue tunic and matching pants, were torn and she was bleeding from several wounds. From where he stood he could hear her breathing and understood that she had most likely lost consciousness from blood loss. His hunger for blood let him know that she was dangerously low on blood.