A Line of Work Ch. 03

Vounei had turned from a completely amiable and friendly fellow, into a bloodthirsty and frenzied maniacal husk of his former self. He grabbed Raisel's shoulders forcefully and pushed her against the side of a tree trunk.

Dazed, Raisel wasn't sure what to do. If Arvad was here, he would most likely have ended Vounei's life without remorse the second he showed hostility. Fumbling her hand around the bottom of her bodice, Raisel reached around for something, something Arvad had given her.

She saw fangs extracting themselves from the depths of Vounei's gums, bleeding as the sharp teeth pierced the flesh in his mouth. If those made their way to Raisel's neck, or any part of her body, her previously unblemished skin would be permanently marred. Yet just a flesh wound would most likely not be all that the voracious vampire villain would leave behind. If no one interfered, herself or anyone else, Raisel would no longer have a candle burning in her soul.

Vounei's strength had Raisel completely pinned, except for her arms and hands. Raisel's left hand flailed around, trying to push off the predator. Raisel's right hand managed to find the object Arvad gave her. Pulling it out of a concealed holster, Raisel weakly pointed Arvad's supposed elemental pistol at the back of Vounei's body. The vampire didn't even notice, as he was too busy sniffing Raisel's body, licking the area where he was about to bite down on.

When Arvad had first given Raisel the pistol in order to protect herself, he gave a brief explanation on the object in question. He said that the pistol could be used by anyone who had even a modicum of magical power within his or her body. Even if that person only had enough to conjure up the weakest of spells, and provided that a person could even cast a spell, then they could fire the gun. Magic guns, especially the normal ones, were designed to absorb only small amounts of magical power. Arvad had said that he did sense latent magical power in Raisel, and because of that, she could surely fire the pistol. He offered to teach her how to use it, but Raisel declined saying that she wished to get to the High Mountains as soon as possible. Hearing that, Arvad then said that all Raisel had to do, was imagine the element she wished to use. If she couldn't, then the gun would shoot the element most affected by her emotions.

What Raisel was now currently feeling, was distress and fear. She couldn't form a rational thought in her mind's current state. All she wanted to do was fire the gun in her hand in order to save herself. And thus she did, the magic pistol's trigger was retracted and the gun fired.

Vounei let out an anguished scream as he recoiled backwards, backing up blindly. He reached for his back, wildly flailing his arms in an attempt to pull out the object that penetrated his skin.

"Hey! Youse safe?" Votl came running up with several others. "I saw what happened... I cans't believes what Vounei was doing. It's a rule amongst our tribe, we dons't feeds on the ones friendly towards us, only our enemies. How... Did youse kill him?"

Raisel only panted, reeling from the short but terrifying ordeal that she had just escaped from.

"Looked as ifs he was slains by pure light, our natural enemy. We can handles sunlight, but nots pure light. Hey, push him overs, let's see 'is wound on 'is back to sees what happened."

A male vampire pushed Vounei onto his back, revealing a ghastly and disturbing wound. The skin around the entry was bubbling, as if it was a pool of molten steel. Black blood bled from the wound, which any of which dissolved if it came into contact with the object in the wound. And the penetrating object in question... Was quite strange.

It glowed brightly, but not bright enough to cause discomfort to the vampires around Raisel. In fact, it seemed as if it only glowed in the fleshy area it came in contact with. The object was light, pure light, but in a strange crystalized form. This was not what Raisel expected to come out of the pistol.

Pure light, and its counterpart of darkness, were both not members of the natural elements; yet a crystalis of light is what came out of the pistol.

Did Arvad know this could happen? Wondered Raisel.

-

"You say he's nearby, Horo?" Arvad whispered this into Horo's ears. The two, due to their long friendship together, could completely understand each other despite the obvious species barrier between them. "Okay then, make yourself scarce. You'll be in the way if he attacks so suddenly."

Veria couldn't hear what Arvad was saying to the strange Owl. She watched as it flapped away again, this time, not to come again for the rest of the dank night. She and Arvad had now been searching for the feral vampire, Vulg, for more than three hours now. She was fine, quite energized actually, but she wasn't sure of how Arvad handled the night. Did he get sleep deprived easily? Could he see very well in the dark? How would he even fight if he couldn't? No matter what Veria wondered, she understood this, he was no amateur. As expected of the mercenary of rumors, the demon of the gun and blade, the Devil's Apprentice... And to those who have had contact with the gods themselves, Sol's Prodigy (or the prodigy of whatever god a person worships). These were all titles given to the mysterious man that Veria knew, excluding the last one, yet even he shouldn't be able to fight back against this...

"Let's keep going, I think I saw something over there." Veria informed Arvad quietly.

Arvad simply nodded his head and turned his gaze towards the direction Veria pointed in.

Good, he's heading over there... My best chance is most likely right now.

Pondering the situation, Veria began to stalk quietly after Arvad. She pretended to follow Arvad, and readied herself for conflict. Once she was satisfied that Arvad had his undivided attention on the forest in front of him, Veria raised her hands, sharpened nails outward. In speed that rivaled birds of prey, Veria lashed her claws into the back of Arvad's neck, sinking deeply into the flesh. Blood instantly spurted from the wound, splashing against her face. Once Veria confirmed Arvad's death, as his limbs twitched around before hanging lifelessly, she removed her hand and claws, allowing the body to slump onto the ground.

Veria stared at the body of the man she had just slain, "You certainly don't fit the rumors, Arvad Eversoul... All talk? At least Vulg will have a decent meal for once." She was about to turn around and head back to the camp, in order to pretend that Vulg had slain Arvad and barely let her live, until something weird happened.

The corpse shimmered, forming clear ripples in the body. Soon, the corpse disappeared and turned into a strange ornate knife. The knife was formed into the likeness of a basic humanoid body, with a head, arms, and legs. The blood also disappeared from Veria's face. However, the knife didn't matter, what did matter was the location of Arvad. Her question was answered,

"I thought you seemed somewhat erratic. And my hunch was right. Now tell me, why do you wish to kill me?" Arvad had abandoned his usual confident and cocky demeanor; turning it into a solemn, grim expression.

"I-I don't need to tell you this. I need you to die." Despite being short, Veria spoke with a troubled voice.

"Why, I wonder, why would a vampire want to kill me? I can't really think of a reason. You mentioned Vulg, so that at least wasn't a lie. Don't you want me to kill him? Save him from the curse of being a feral monstrosity?"

"I don't want him dead! If his body still lives, then surely his soul can be saved and cured!" Several tears formed in Veria's eyes.

"Hrm, I think I get it now. You leave him alive, so that one day you will find a cure for his affliction. And you led me here so that he will get a decent body to munch on. Heh, I guess you figured out something about me you shouldn't have." Arvad, will maintaining his somber face, stifled out a chuckle.

"...Yes, due to myself having the most powerful sense of smell in the tribe, I can smell your blood, what kind it is. Vulg, h-he can only feed on the flesh and blood of a changeling! I need to kill you, so he won't starve!" Veria slumped down into a crouch, hand covering her eyes.

"I'm impressed that you can even smell that much. Yes, I have changeling blood, but I'm only part changeling, a fourth to be exact." Revealed Arvad.

"A-a fourth? That's impossible."

"Yes, I am an impossible existence. In any case, I have no desire to end my life here. I'm afraid I will have to have Vulg starve. All the easier for me to kill him" Arvad started to develop a malicious smile.

"No you won't. I will die before he does!" Veria stood up straight, balling her fists.

"Ah, you love him. Well, that should be obvious. You even seduced me in order to feed your lost love. That is admirable, in a way. I will have to disappoint you." Arvad pulled out a knife from his belt, another of the strange nine ornate knives.

Attacking before Arvad could do anything serious, Veria slashed forward in an animalistic fervor. With simple and fluid backstopping, Arvad held the knife aloft.

"Shine." The knife glowed and swelled up with pure energy, bursting out with the pure light of the sun. It was the solar knife, and along with the doppelganger knife, they made up with seven other knives to form the Reaper's Knives. They once belonged, and was crafted by, a famous and prolific serial killer that spanned several nations. No one knew what happened to him when he disappeared without a trace four decades ago, but somehow, his knives made their way into Arvad Eversoul's possession, and not for the better.

The solar knife glowed with light, blinding Veria to an extreme extent. Thanks to a person's eyes being more sensitive to stimulation than other body parts, Veria's eyes burned painfully. The rest of her body was safe, but it could still feel the heat from the pure light erupting from Arvad's knife.

Arvad returned the knife to his belt, also picking up the doppelganger knife and returning that as well. In one fell motion, Arvad chopped at the back of Veria's neck, knocking her unconscious.

"Now that has been dealt with... I can sense your presence, feral beast. Why don't you come out for a little fun?" Called out Arvad to nowhere in particular to the vast forest.

One, two, three minutes passed until a savage creature, with a human body, climbed down a tree on all fours, face first. Despite being savage and feral, feral vampires were not dumb. They were actually quite intelligent, though in their own way. It snarled at Arvad menacingly as it scoped out its prey, assessing its capabilities.

Both individuals gave off this exchange of stares and intimidation. Arvad slowly reached up to his sword's hilt on his back, grabbing for his silver sword. Among the creatures weak to silver weapons, and silver in general, vampires were among them. Arvad wasn't certain, but it was said that feral vampires are especially weak to silver, as they now have the forbidden changeling blood coursing through them. Arvad himself didn't really feel all that easy near silver, due to his heritage. However, because his changeling heritage was only a fourth of his being, the effect silver had on him was many times weaker compared to the effect of silver against its natural enemies.

Before Arvad could fully extract his silver sword, the feral vampire, Vulg, pounced on Arvad. It haunched back on its hind legs and pushed forwards, launching itself at high speed through the air towards Arvad.

"You're fast!" Arvad said to his practically mute opponent, and he wasn't lying. Arvad had fought against few opponents with this level of speed. As Vulg at one point was the patriarch of a vampire tribe, he was undoubtedly strong. And for the amount of time that Vulg had been feeding off forbidden blood, its power increased by quite a bit. Whether the feral vampire was an opponent above, below, or at Arvad's level would be tough to tell. In any case, this battle would accumulate a multitude of what ifs.

Arvad was pushed back by the vampire onto his back. Lifting his legs up and pushing his arms forward, Arvad vaulted the feral vampire over his body and behind his head. Arvad jumped back onto his feet and faced his opponent. He pulled out his silver sword and readied himself into a position fit for fighting wild beasts.

All normal fencing and swordplay stances would be useless against this kind of opponent. Fighting a feral vampire was like fighting an enemy with the strength of an orc placed into the body of a light and nimble elf. And it would be even faster or stronger if the feral vampire were an orc or elf.

The feral vampire lashed out wildly in a flurry of random blows with its claws. Its attacks had no patterns or flow to them; it was as if it rolled a dice in its mind in order to decide where its hands went. The feral vampire instinctively knew about the dangerous material Arvad's sword was made of, and it made sure that only the claws touched the blade. The dead skin that made up its claws didn't burn upon the silver and the feral vampire was safe.

Arvad, while parrying and counterattacking an attack, considered several trump cards he could utilize to defeat the feral menace. The Solar Knife was useless, feral vampires, while slightly weakened in its presence, were immune to the effect pure light had on normal vampires. He could use some of the other knives, but each would have been inconvenient to use against his opponent. If he had his pistol, which he leant to Raisel, he could have shot the feral vampire. Wait a second...

With a plan in mind, Arvad slashed in a forward arc, which was meant to gain him a couple seconds. The feral vampire anticipated this and ducked downwards and crawled forward scratching at Arvad's knees. The mercenary jumped backwards, while stabbing at his enemy. The creature swiped the sword aside with its claws and lunged forward with its mouth open, baring its deadly fangs.

*Thok*

Arvad smashed his weapon straight into the feral vampire's face, breaking several of its teeth. Arvad had abandoned his sword in favor of his rifle. Along with the elemental pistol, Arvad also owned an elemental magic rifle. Both guns belonged to the exceptionally rare elemental series of guns. *Thwak* Arvad swiped the butt of the rifle across the creature's face a second time, forcing it recoil from pain. He then flipped the rifle around in his arms and took aim at the creature's head in lightning speed. And speed wasn't the only thing that was lightning just now.

With the loudest noise Arvad had made that entire month, Arvad shot forth a bolt of lightning from his rifle. The mercenary normally didn't have his guns fire lightning, as it was an exceptionally unpredictable elemental force. Yet it was without a doubt the most catastrophic and damaging of the elemental forces, at least in instantaneous moments.

Due to the bolt's destructive power, the lightning ripped a lethal hole in the feral vampire's body. Arvad fired once more in order to confirm the creature's death, forcing another wide hole to appear in its body. The first hole penetrated the creature's left shoulder, destroying the flesh and organs there; there was no longer a beating heart in that body. The second hole appeared dead center into its gut, destroying the bones and organs there as well. Large amounts of blood and giblets splattered that flora nearby. It was a sight not for the faint of heart, and thankfully, Arvad's heart was hardly faint in the slightest.

"Well, I've got two bodies here... One live and one dead. How the heck am I going to bring them back in one trip? (I hate taking more than one, it's not manly!)" Said Arvad Eversoul as he scratched his head with a cold look on his face. It was cold, yet it held a hint of joy from the exciting battle he had partook in. "Man, I better get a decent payment out of this... So troublesome!"

-

"You say she led you out there to feed Vulg? I cannot believe this." An elderly male vampire, whose name was Volte, said this while planting his palm into his face. "If what you say is true, and I can tell it is, then we will punish Veria severely. However, I think your blinding of her is decent punishment enough. We cannot and will not accept one of our own assisting a vampire who has fell so low as to feed on the forbidden."

Arvad shrugged, "I don't really mind that all that much. As long as if you have a decent payment, I'll be fine. Also, I should be glad that Raisel is safe from... This." He said as he gestured towards the restrained Vounei who lashed out violently against his bindings.

"I apologize once again for your troubles to you and Miss Raisel. We make it a point to never harm guests, only our enemies. And as for payment, Vhrou! Fetch the reward for Sir Eversoul, please." Volte commanded the vampire, Vhrou, who nodded and headed for one of the vampire's tents.

"Arvad, is there always danger like this around you?" Asked Raisel Tessiol.

"Oh yes! In fact, it was like this since I was a wee lad. As a baby, some generic bandits once kidnapped me. And while you may think, 'why that must have been terrifying, if not traumatizing!' You're quite right, it was terrifying and traumatizing... For the bandits. I killed my first human that day, as a baby." The mercenary said this with a dramatic voice, completely devoid of seriousness.

"You... Must think you're quite hilarious, don't you?"

"Yea, I do. Want to hear another 'true' story of mine? How about the time I helped an old lady across the street, only to find that it was a deadly assassin sent to eliminate the monarch of Caotico! It was quite the development, mind you." Arvad closed his eyes and let off a jovial grin.

Raisel rolled her eyes and ignored the deadly mercenary who had the strangest sense of humor that was only fit for those who shared the same attitude as him. They conversed a small while longer about random topics Raisel was interested in, until Vhrou returned with a chest with a strange tessellated design. He placed the chest in front of Arvad's shoes and walked back behind Volte.

Arvad knelt down and slowly opened the chest. He took one look inside, smiled, and closed the chest. He picked it up and cradled it in his arms like a mother would with a newborn child. "Oh boy, I do appreciate this! Yes, it'll do nicely as payment."

Arvad, after walking back to his and Raisel's horses, fastened the chest to the side of their packhorse.

"Arvad, what is in that chest? I'm awfully curious as to what has made you so happy. And please don't joke around this time, it's rather annoying." Inquired Raisel.

Arvad looked upwards at the setting moon before replying, "You want to know what's inside? If I had to be serious about this answer... I would say that inside this chest, is the moon. Or at least a symbolic representation of the moon. In any case, it is quite valuable." After purposefully giving a vague answer, Arvad mounted himself on the horse, ready to get going. "Now then! Let's go meet some damn High Elves!"

Why did mother hire this man, of all people? Raisel would not have her answer anytime soon, unfortunately.