Betrayal (1)

1: Half the battle

Veax sat on her cot, running the tip of the silver dagger over her palm. The small tent that now sufficed as her home was more or less empty, unlike all the other tents. Veax was smart enough to know that the manor was not going still be standing when this was all over. Smart enough to only bring was she really needed and wanted to keep.

There were no mirrors in the small tent. Her clan thought it to be bad luck to keep mirrors in a time such this. Veax wished she could have brought her little hand mirror from home with her, but she knew it would have not lasted the trip. Though Veax had brought things she knew she would use when this was over, or when the clans reached the main city. Those items lay in a bag at the foot of her cot.

Veax got up and opened the bag. On the the top of the bag were three dresses her mother had made before she died. Veax wasn't really one for dresses, but these were more or less whet she had left of her mother. Under those were pendants and jewels that had also belonged to her mother. Under those, wrapped in an enchanted cloth, was Veax's most prized possession. It had taken her seven whole years to make. It was her enchanted sword, DarthLightning. The blade was made of blue and black dragon scales that had been melted down to a black and blue shimmering liquid. That had taken one year. Then it took another year to make the hilt out of enchanted jet. Then four years to perfect the blade, making sure it wouldn't crack or break. Then one more year to complete it. Veax had made the sword so that the blade was as light as the hilt and near unbreakable.

No one knew that Veax had DarthLightning. It was her secret and she would only use it when she truly needed it. Plus, it wasn't silver. Only silver was used in these kinds of wars. It was 'traditional' to use silver weapons.

The horn sounded throughout the camp. Veax put the silver dagger in its sheath, picked up her silver sword and headed out. Everyone flooded out to the center of the camp where a wooden platform stood. Upon the platform stood Veax's father, Carthem. Veax crinkled up her nose. Her father always smelled bad when he was exited. He was especially exited now. Unlike her mother and herself, Veax's father lusted for war. He could not be sedated by a simple, friendly battle. No, he had to fight an all out war. This was one of the reasons he was leading this group of clans. He was willing to fight and slaughter the enemy.

Everyone quieted down when Carthem raised his hand. "My friends, family, and allies, the scouts have seen the enemy approaching this way. The scouts have also noted the total destruction of our land! Every house and manor torn down and plundered! Have those beasts no manners?! No respect for the higher race? No! They just plow through us, thinking that just because they hold the key to the beast that they are more powerful! Are we not near immortal? Our we not the better of the three races that roam this earth?" he called out to the crowd. Veax could feel everyone tensing up with anger and excitement. She could see the few other that were like herself, but they belonged to other clans. Possibly stricter clans. There was no chance that she'd get there help in trying to end the madness. But what chance did she ever have to stop it?

Carthem raised his hand for silence again. "Only a small pack heads our way. No trouble for our numbers. Shall we be rid of them? Shall we show the other packs that we are the better? Shall we teach them who rules this earth?!" his voice rose with each sentence. This time everyone cheered. Even the ones who had been quiet last time. Veax felt out of place. She wished her mother had been here. Wished her mother had survived the trip. Wished she had someone to confide in; someone who felt has Veax did. But finding someone like that would be near impossible. "Long live the Vampiric!" Carthem yelled to the crowd, raising his sword, almost feeding off the battle cries of the clans that surrounded him.

Carthem had exaggerated in the wrong way when he said that the pack was small. In fact, it was almost as big as all the clans in the camp combined. Veax had always been bewildered on how the packs just grew and grew. Never really branching off like that Vampire clans did. Veax belonged to the BloodRain clan. Other clans amongst her were the Shades clan, the Batalha clan, and the Rakyne clan. Though in total, there were about twenty clans in the camp, with each clan hosting about sixty Vampires. Veax knew that every clan would loose a decent number of Vampires in this one fight alone. The packs fought with physical power much stronger then the physical power of the Vampires. But Veax and the other Vampires were armed with silver weapons. Silver was the one metal that had an actual affect on the packs.

Pack members and Vampires alike lay dead around the ruined camp. Veax was at a stand-still with a pack member. He was tough and lean, with plenty of battle scars to show where he got his muscle from. His only weapons were his claws and fangs, and Veax was armed with a silver dagger and sword. Veax was cut deeply in multiple places, as was the pack member. He growled, his golden eyes filled with the powerful rage that the pack members could harness and use.

Without warning, the pack member lunged at Veax. She fell to the ground and could feel the wind being quite roughly knocked out of her. Veax never got caught off guard like that. What happened to her concentration? The greasy black pelt of the pack member held a stench that overwhelmed Veax's sensitive nose. Then out of nowhere, the pack member loosened his grip, but still held Veax down. "You are not like the other blood drinkers." he stated in a low gruff voice. Veax still struggled to free herself. "You are unlike the other pack members." Veax noted in return. A pack member had never addressed her before. It was an odd sensation. "You don't fight with all your being. Why?" he asked her. Veax was hoping that no one would have noticed that. But there was no running away from this. "I don't want to fight. But my status requires me to fight. I would have been dragged out here if I had refused to go." Veax told him. She didn't really know why she was telling him. Veax never really liked the packs, but she never really liked the fighting either. The pack member thought this over. Then actually got off her. Though he did it in a such a fashion that it looked like Veax had pushed him off. "We will speak again, if the Moon permits. If anyone asks how you were freed from my grip, you can say you wrestled free." with that, he ran off on all fours with what was left of his pack. Veax lay there on the blood-soaked ground, stunned. Had that pack member actually let her go? Just because she was against the war? No. That could not be it. But he had just done so and all of Veax's senses told her what had just happened was real.

Nasya, Veax's younger sister, rushed to her side. "Veax! What happened? I swear I saw that pack member holding you in a grip of steal! How'd you get free?!" Nasya fussed. "Nessie, I'm fine." Veax lied. Veax was far from fine. "I guess I hit a sore spot and got him to let go enough for me to wrestle free." Veax lied again. It would be harder to lie to her father about this. Why did he do that!? Veax's head was spinning. Nasya helped Veax to her feet and back to what was left of the camp.

Everyone was injured in one way or another, but being Vampires, everyone healed quickly. Carthem was at Veax's side the moment she and Nasya walked into the main tent. "What happened young one?!" Carthem demanded of Nasya, wanting to know what happened to Veax. Carthem had never liked Veax. For many, many reasons. The biggest reason was that Veax was the eldest of Carthem's children and female. A big disgrace in Carthem's mind. "I don't really know, but Veax wrestled a pack member, near twice her, size off her chest!" Nasya said in admiration. If only she knew..... Veax thought, knowing that her sister knew nothing about what had happened between the pack member and Veax. Her father just looked down at Veax. "Pack your stuff." he said bluntly. Veax nodded and headed towards her tent.

Thankfully, Veax's tent was intact and her belongings untouched. She was still dazed by what the pack member had done and said. Would he seek her out now? Would he follow the clans on their way to the main city? No, he wouldn't take that sort of risk. The scouts would find him before he could get to close. Why did he want to talk again anyway? As these thoughts ran through Veax's head, she unpacked DarthLightning. Something was telling her to arm herself with it. That she would need it later and Veax almost always trusted her instincts.

Veax stood, her silver blade strapped to her right hip and DarthLightning strapped to her left. Hopefully no one would ask about the extra blade. The tent, cot, and everything else that belonged to Veax was packed and on her back. Nasya came over to her. Nasya and Veax always traveled together. Nasya was the only person that liked to travel with Veax.

Before long, the clans were off. Nasya was already chattering off about rumors going around the younger Vampires. Like usual, Veax did not really listen. At least not until she heard Nasya mention the packs. "You know some of the other kids are calling the pack members by the title they call themselves? I told them that they'd get in trouble but do they listen? Noooo." Nasya shook her head in disapproval, like her and Veax's mother used to when she was alive. "What?" Veax asked, interested now. Nasya nodded. "They were calling the pack members by their own titles. Like the "Alpha" and "cub" and stuff." Nasya stuck out her tongue, as if saying the words put a bad taste in her mouth. "And worst of all they were saying....." Nasya looked around to make sure none of the elders were listening too closely. "Werewolves." Nasya whispered so quiet, Veax had almost asked for her to repeat the word. This stunned Veax. Did this have to do soemthing with what happened between the pack member and herself? No. It could not. How could those young ones know about what really happened?

Veax shook her head, trying to clear it. This was too much for her. Especially with all this traveling, Veax's brain did not want to keep up. Nasya went back to babbling about other things, and left Veax to herself.

The sun was setting now and the sky was a beautiful mix of purple and crimson. For some reason the sunsets always looked better when Veax was traveling. Carthem called a halt and found a spot that the clans could camp.

Once everything was set up, Carthem came up to Veax, who was pacing back and forth. "Veax." He said, quite sternly. Veax snapped out of her thoughts. "Hm?" She asked. Carthem looked at her. Veax pulled herself together. "Yes, father?" she corrected herself. That was what Carthem was looking for. "You have west border patrol tonight." He said. Veax nodded, sheathed her silver sword and belted on DarthLightning, but did not let her father see the blade. He just nodded and left. Veax took a breath and headed to the west border of camp. Hopefully Nasya would sneak her a snack later.

Veax hated patrol. Time just seemed to slow to an utter crawl. Even if she had been partnered with someone, the night seemed to never end. It was simple though. All Veax needed to do was watch the shadows. Make sure that no predators or enemies approached the camp. If she spotted someone, she would yell or scream, fend off the attacker until backup arrived, and then do it all over again.

Hours passed and darkness consumed Veax, with only the dim light of the crescent moon to light her way. She had memorized almost every twig and branch on her path now. Nasya had not come. "Carthem probably set her up somewhere else." Veax whined, her stomach grumbling. She hadn't fed since they had left the manor. And right now that felt like forever ago. "I don't even need to feed. Any sort of food would be nice." Veax told the tree that acted as her north corner marker.

More time passed. Veax was not paying attention to how much time anymore. The night just dragged on. It was horrid. But it was better than being harassed about how she 'wrestled' the pack member off of her. Then there was a whiff of unknown sent. Veax instantly readied herself, her hands hovering over the hilts of her blades. The sent become stronger as it came closer. It was the sent of a pack member. What is a pack member going here? Veax questioned herself. Could it be the pack member from earlier today? Did he get past the scouts? A shadow formed at the edge of the forest, just a few feet away from where Veax stood. It was clear to Veax now that it was a pack member. The sent was quite clear, but not as strong or gross as it was earlier that morning.

It came out of the shadows and into the dim moonlight. It was the same pack member from before! "What the hell are you doing here!?" Veax hissed at him. He smiled, his canines bigger than Veax had remembered. "I told you we would speak again." he stated simply. Veax shook her head, still ready for any sort of attack. "Yes, I know. But here? Now? Do you know how bad this would look, for the both of us, if we were caught!?" Veax had to struggle to keep her voice low. Men had alway s driven her crazy. Human, Vampire, and..... Werewolf alike. The Werewolf nodded. "Yes I know. Thats why I watched and counted the pace of the other guards before I approached you. We are safe for about twenty minutes." he said said simply, sitting down on the grass. Veax stood there, unsure. The Werewolf seemed to noticed her caution. "If I had wanted to kill you, you'd been dead long ago." he said bluntly. Veax accepted this fact and sat down, but still on her guard.

The Werewolf pulled a small bag off of his hip. Veax smelled meat. The Werewolf held the small package out to her. When Veax did not take it, he took her hands gently and placed the bag in them. Veax sat there. His hands where soft. Veax thought she'd never come into contact with a Werewolf in such a peaceful way. It was so odd. Unsettling and comforting at the same time. Veax slowly unwrapped the cloth, keeping an eye on the Werewolf. The overwhelming sent of fresh killed meat came into Veax's nose. The Werewolf had brought her a meal! Veax looked up at him, her mouth hagging open. The meat was even cooked to a moderate degree. He shrugged. "You said you were hungry." he explained. "How long were you there?!" Veax asked. "Long enough to hear that you hadn't fed and wanted, needed, something to eat?" he responded, making it sound like a question. Veax was too hungry to argue, a fault in Vampires that was quite evident.

After she devoured the meat, Veax looked up at the Werewolf. "So, why so nice? If I could have, I would have killed you on the battlefield without thinking twice about whether you were nice or not." she asked. Before Veax asked, or answered anything else, she wanted to know why this Werewolf was doing this. The Werewolf looked down. "I could smell your difference. Your dislike about being put in the position of fighting. I wanted to know more. Is that too much to ask?" he asked, his golden eyes looked like those of a small puppy. Veax was taken aback, "Thats all?" he nodded. Veax looked down, now ashamed of herself. "Whats wrong?" he asked. Veax shook her head, handing the cloth that the meat had been wrapped in back to the Werewolf. "I never did like the fighting. But I still thought that your kind was just beasts. No "Human-like" feelings in the lot of ya. Now you come and do this," Veax motioned between them, "And now I just feel bad. And the whole actually talking to you like this is odd." Veax stood. She should not be here. She should be patrolling. But at the same time she need to stay here. This acquaintance might lead to something that could stop the fighting. But Veax didn't like to use people.

The Werewolf stood. "We're almost out of time, so I'll go." he said, facing Veax. His gold eyes shone clearly in the dim light. He held out his hand. "Jasperian Quicksilver." he introduced himself. "A little late for that, aren't you?" Veax said, taking his hand. Jasperain smiled and shrugged. "Veax Bloodrain." Veax said. Jasperain held Veax's hand lightly and gently as he shook it. Then he left as quietly as he come.

With that, Veax resumed her patrol. She now had many, many things to go over in her mind as the patrolled the camp's border.