• Darkness Stirring

    Tharin's feet pounded along the ground like jackhammers, his greaves flashing in the moonlight as he sped along the forest floor. His sword lay half-out of it's scabbard, the hilt gripped tightly in his hand at the exuberance he felt at the coming battle. He looked at the other vampires around him, and he could feel the blood flowing through their veins, pounding in their ears and rushing along their veins. Their hearts pumping the blood along it's passageways. Th-thmp. Th-thmp. Th-thmp. Over and over again, like the monotonous beat of a war-drum. A war-drum keeping it's pace with their footsteps as they marched to war.
    He saw a break in the dense forest ahead of him, pale harsh moonlight streaming through it's uneven entrance. He rushed forward, shooting ahead of his comrades in a spiraling rush of adrenaline. He flew off the cliff at the end of the shrubbery, and fell in a graceful dive, spreading his arms as his leathery black wings shot out from his back. He pulled up sharply and flew at high speeds toward the wide expanse of grassland below him.
    Using his superior night-vision, he spotted the other clan racing towards his in the same manner. He began to steer down at a sharp angle, folding in his wings just before he touched the ground, and landed sprinting towards the enemy, sword drawn and blood lust in his eyes. As the two waves of vampires met, it was akin to a tsunami hitting a tornado. Two forces so different and yet so alike, battling with enormous strength and power, a battle to the end.
    Tharin's sword immediately cleaved the vampire in front of him in two, and then as he quickly turned around, it's blade was buried in the skull of another. Tharin quickly pulled it out, flinging brain matter along the ground as he swung his sword at the nearest opponent. The other man managed to deflect the blow, but failed to stop the second one aiming at his heart. Tharin leaped back as another fighter lunged at him, an enormous man standing eight feet high, with a battle-axe more than half his size.
    Tharin tried to deflect the battle-axe's swing, but his sword was simply cleaved into two. As the other vampire smiled at Tharin, Tharin simply grinned wickedly and run up close. Caught by surprise, the man slumped to the ground, five holes in his chest from Tharin's extendable claws. Tharin swept along the battlefield, leaping gracefully and tearing viciously at his opponent's chests and faces. He laughed as his claws became caught in one man's eyes, and with a single leap forward he ripped the vampire's skull from his body.
    When the dust settled, Tharin slowly laughed as he racked up the kill-count in his head. “Sixty-two” he viciously said with a smile. “Out of an estimated one hundred, that's pretty good. I've done better though.”
    Another vampire walked up to him, a serious expression on his face. “Sir, I am happy to report that the other clan has been wiped out, with minimal casualties on our side. All in all, a job well done, sir.”
    “Good, good, we eliminate not only the competition, but the weak of our clan. Quickly, order the others to leave the bodies here, the crows will finish the job come morning's light. Tell everyone to proceed on, full speed ahead to their camp. We want to get there before sunlight, now don't we?” he said as he cackled maniacally.
    “Yes, sir.” the soldier replied, giving a quick salute before setting off among the others. As news spread among the camp to move out, the vampires took off towards the dead clan's stronghold. One by one they disappeared, propelled by their ungodly curse, until Tharin was left standing alone among the scattered bodies.
    He went among them, looking at their faces as he walked. Grabbing a single body, not caring whether it was enemy or friend, he whispered “A snack for the road.” and drained it of blood. Looking off towards the enemy clan's base, he stared up at the moon for a moment, before a grin split his face from ear to ear, and he shot off with only a faint stirring of the dust, and the countless bodies littered upon the ground, as evidence that he had ever been there.