Prometheus' Orb (Legends of the Dark Creatures Book 1)

“You fool!”

After just receiving a slap from his father, Adrian’s face was burning with pain. The man raised his huge hand again, his palms still red. This time Adrian’s mother came in and tried to stop him.

“George please!” she pleaded, standing in between the two of them. “He’s had enough.”

Adrian’s father pushed his mother away and she would have fallen if Adrian hadn’t sprung from his kneeling position and caught her.

“Three weeks boy,” his father said, his huge nostrils getting wider as his breathing deepened. “It has been three weeks since you declared that you would kill that demon, Richard Thane. What... Do you think the Jarand Hanat is a joke?”

Adrian quickly knelt in front of his father and bowed his head.

“Father, please! I would never think... I just...”

“You are just an incompetent fool,” his father snarled. “Just like your pathetic uncle.”

Just bear it Adrian thought. His head was still facing the ground and his fingers were beginning to dig into his palms and at the same time were trying to stop tears from following out of his eyes.

“George...”

“Tonight,” Adrian said, interrupting whatever his mother was about to say. “Tonight, I will bring you the Fire Demon’s head.”

Adrian was already in his Hunter’s uniform and was just waiting, to get out of that place.

“Tonight right?” his father asked, rubbing his palm across his large chin.

“I swear on my honor as a Hunter and as your son,” Adrian continued. “I will destroy Richard Thane before midnight.”

“Raise your head,” his father said.

Adrian didn’t know what it was. Maybe it was the look in his own eyes or maybe it was the conviction flowing out of his words but whatever it was, Adrian's father seemed to believe him.

No other words needed to be said... At least that’s what Adrian thought until his father said, “Silva Drathvir is outside... She says she wanted to personally see you in action.”

Adrian felt his muscles go numb. Silvia Drathvir, one of the seven Grandmasters was here?

“Well don’t keep her waiting,” his father said, sounding more elated.

Adrian raised his head and stood up. His mother caught his hand before he could take another step. Adrian assured her that he would be fine and he slid open the brown wooden door. As Adrian walked through the long corridor he observed the decorative portraits that hung on the wall. He stopped and stared at his favorite.

Adrian stared intensely at the silhouetted figure of a man in a coat holding what Adrian always thought was a sword. The painting itself was thousands of years old and was said to have been made by the very first Hunter. The first Hunter, Salazar Drathvir, made seven exact paintings, each kept by a Grandmaster. The only reason it was in this house was that the Hunters were still deciding on whether Adrian’s father should be removed from the seat as a Grandmaster. Apparently, the painting held some special secret that was said to be some ultimate weapon against evil.

With a smile, while shaking his head, Adrian walked past the huge living room and went to the door. Waiting for him outside was a slim young woman with long black hair, dark skin, and razor-sharp brown eyes. In appearance, she looked like she was in her early thirties. She wore a long black leather coat, jeans and held a sheathed katana in her left hand. Her face was expressionless and staring into the night sky.

So this was Grandmaster Silvia Drathvir. Only a few carried the last name Drathvir. The Drathvirs were direct descendants of the first Hunter himself. They were renowned for their extraordinary combat skill and it was also rumored that some even possessed certain mystical powers.

Adrian covered his mouth with a balaclava; a mask that only covered his mouth. He then raised his hood and walked to Grandmaster Silvia.

When he was near her, Adrian fell one knee and bowed his head.

“When the enemy takes away my sword and shield,” the Grandmaster said, in a thick British accent.

“Then my body becomes the weapon I...”

Adrian quickly performed a back flip and dodged the sword that the Grandmaster swung at him. He landed with his knees bent and she came at him again. Adrian unsheathed two daggers from his boots and a loud metallic clang echoed when he blocked the sword attack.

The Grandmaster smiled. She slowly raised and sheathed her sword.

Adrian’s heart was still pounding viciously against his chest when she asked, “And what happens when the enemy takes hold of your body.”

Adrian was on one knee and with his head facing the graveled ground he replied: “Then my soul will fight.”

“Interesting... Now, unless you plan on proposing to me I suggest you get to your feet, Adrian Pearce.”

Adrian did as instructed. He observed his surroundings. Apart from his father’s, his mother’s, and his own cars, there wasn’t any other in the car pack. Did the Grandmaster come by cab?

“Grandmaster... If you don’t mind me asking...”

The Grandmaster this time made a move that was too fast for Adrian to block, dodge or counter. In a split second, she was standing behind him and the blade of her black sword near his neck.

Adrian swallowed. What was her deal anyway?

“Now listen, Adrian,” she said. “I may fancy formality sometimes... but call me Grandmaster again and your head will be the only part of you I carry on this mission.”

There was a brief silence between them until the Gran... Silvia burst into laughter.

“Priceless,” she said, letting go of him. “Just priceless... I wish you could see yourself, young captain.”

She’s crazy, Adrian thought.

“Alright,” she said. “So why don’t we get to business then?”

Adrian wasn’t sure of what to do. If he answered her formally, she was going to pull another of her stunts.

“Well, you wanted to ask me something didn’t you?”

Adrian gathered himself and said, “I-I wanted to know what brought a Grandmaster to a town like ours.”

“Haven’t you heard?” Silvia answered, running a hand through her hair. “We have finally found the vampire, Claudia.”

“But that’s impossible,” Adrian said. “Claudia? Here?”

“Impossible or not, that blood-sucking demon is number seven in the Book Of Condemned Souls. I wouldn’t miss a chance like this even if it’s just based on speculation.”

“So where is she then?” Adrian asked, gritting his teeth in excitement.

“And here I thought you had much bigger prey to hunt,” Silvia remarked.

“I will destroy the Fire Demon tonight,” Adrian said. “But correct me if I a wrong... Didn’t you come here because you needed my help with Claudia?”

“I like your energy, Adrian. It’s no wonder you moved up the ranks so quickly compared to any other Hunter in history. Very well, shall we get going?”

“I’ll get my car,” Adrian said.

Silvia chuckled and said, “Come with me.”

The two of them walked along the neatly cut grass, past a few trees that grew around the huge yard, and went to the back of the house. Adrian could see his room from here. On the second floor and next to it was a window that led to his training room.

A devious smile then formed across Silvia’s face.

“What?” Adrian asked as they continued walking.

“Oh, nothing. Just wondering... Haven’t you ever wished you had a brother or sister?”

“The thought has never once crossed my mind,” Adrian answered. It was true. The only people outside his family who Adrian felt any emotional attachments to were his own friends and Ashley. Growing up in this huge house, Adrian never felt lonely because he always knew he had his friends; people he now swore to protect with his life. Though having a sibling to boss around did raise some appeal he thought, his mask concealing his smile.

“Is that so? Well... Oh, here we are!” Silvia exclaimed. She was standing in the middle of the backyard.

“And here is?” Adrian asked.

“You mean you can’t feel it,” Silvia asked. “You are trained to sense aura’s right? Sensing magic should be easy for you.”

“I must have skipped that class.”

Adrian wasn’t very adept when it came to mystical stuff such as auras and the like, but he knew how important they were. Hunters could predict their enemy’s attacks just by sensing their auras. Adrian’s honed skills were purely based on instinct and hash training; the latter, courtesy of his father.

“Anyway,” Silvia said. “Do you know how long it took me to get here? Hint... three seconds.”

“You used a portal,” Adrian stated.

“So you know about those. Good. I think you might want to step back.”

Adrian walked a few steps back and heard Silvia utter some words in a foreign language. A flaming portal appeared right in front of him, spiraling and blowing hot wind against his skin. This was his first time seeing one since he joined the Hunters last year. It was incredible, he thought.

“Shall we?” Silvia said.

“Ladies first,” Adrian replied.

Both of them walked into the portal. Blinding orange light filled Adrian’s eyes and when he opened them he found himself in town, standing in front of a dinner.

Coley’s dinner he realized. The roads and shops around were completely empty. Two more portals appeared a distance away from Adrian and more Hunters arrived. Adrian recognized his Lieutenant, Emery, and two more members from his team; Maxwell, aka Slayer, and Deborah, who were also older than him. They walked towards him.

Altogether, they were thirty Hunters. Including Adrian, there were five others who had Black Swords across their back; symbolizing their positions as Captains. And of course, there was Grandmaster who was the only one without a mask. Adrian could hear the whispers and mummers among the rest of the Hunters as they stared at the woman in black. Everyone seemed to know what they were up against and the air was more tense than usual.

“Alright everyone,” Silvia said casually. “All the civilians are safely secure and I am sure I don’t need to tell you what to do.”

Three teams of six, each led by a captain, left and positioned themselves around Coley’s dinner. The rest stood with Adrian and Silvia.

“Make sure all the exits are secured,” Adrian heard Silvia say over the COMs.

“Why are we here?” Adrian asked.

Silvia’s analyzing eyes stared at Adrian. She reached for her left-hand pocket and pulled out a note. It simply read:

Coley Andrews is Claudia the vampire.

Coley? It couldn’t be. Adrian had known her for as long as he could remember. She had a special connection with everyone in the town; she couldn’t be a vampire.

“Since it seems you and Claudia have already been acquainted, allow me to introduce myself to her,” Silvia said, gesturing her hand towards the dinner. “Adrian, you come with me. The rest of you stay sharp.”

“Are you sure there hasn’t been a mistake?” Adrian asked. “This could be a trap.”

Silvia continued walking toward the dinner and didn’t reply.

When they reached the entrance, the ‘open’ sign was still glowing green. Silvia opened the door and closed it behind them.

It was fairly dark inside and the natural light of the moon filled the room. Waiting for them, sitting with her legs crossed on top of one of the tables, was Col... No... Claudia. She was reading a small leather-covered brown book and they were several others on the table. Claudia was dressed formally in a black jacket, white shirt, black tie, trousers, and boots.

“Just a moment,” Claudia said her voice smooth and almost welcoming. “I just have to... What! He dies! Shakespeare, you did it again.”

Claudia bent her head, let out a weary sigh, and said, “You see, Shakespeare and I were what one might call friends with benefits; the benefits being he granted me access to some of his unpublished works... I never got to read them though...”

“Until now,” Silvia finished, halting her movements. “Too bad your end will be as tragic as his stories.”

Claudia smiled.

“Now we don’t know that,” she said, placing the book on the table and rising to her feet. “Tragic... Perhaps you could describe my life as such. But looking back; I don’t regret anything.”

She went over to the window, stared at the moon, and took in a deep breath.

“I lived, Hunter,” she said, smiling and closing her eyes. “I owned every moment, every second... True I made some bad choices along the way but I accepted the consequences with my pride intact.”

“Pride?” Silvia remarked, unsheathing her black sword. “You are different from all the vampires I have faced. Most live with guilt, regret, and pain... Some even wish to die but you...”

“Ever since I gave up the senseless killing, I began to see the beauty in this world and my life,” Claudia said, “I traveled the world, visited other realms, scaled mountains, witnessed extraordinary sights, and made friends, and enemies. I lived till the twenty-first century and got to meet the most extraordinary people; Sara, Samantha, Claire, Robert, Adrian, Luke, and Ashley. Adrian, you and your friends brought out the light in me; light I thought had faded away thousands of years ago.”

Adrian’s eyes widened. She knew it was him even though he had his mask on. Adrian couldn’t respond. He had no words to say. He had heard the stories of Claudia; the people she’d killed, the many Hunters she’d slaughtered. But in the last four hundred years, there had been no word or sighting. Furthermore, Adrian knew Coley...

“Adrian, draw your sword,” Silvia ordered.

“What?” Claudia asked. “Afraid you can’t take me on your own? Be rest assured, no harm shall come to the boy.”

“You underestimate me Claudia,” Silvia said.

Suddenly, the air in the room was becoming thicker. Adrian found himself choking and fell to his knees. He felt an intense pressure crashing down on him. This was... He looked at Claudia. So this was what an aura of a powerful supernatural being felt like. It was Adrian’s first experience with something like this. His vision was blurring and his bones were shaking. He took off his mask and breathed in deeply.

“Grandmaster Drathvir,” Claudia said. “Trust me, I have heard of you... I don’t plan on holding back.”

A deadly smile formed on Silvia’s face. She didn’t appear to be affected by the enormous amount of power Claudia was projecting.

“Adrian,” Silvia said, slightly bending her knees and falling into an offensive stance. “I want you to pay close attention. I want you to realize what it means to be called a Grandmaster. Ready vampire...”

Claudia’s smirk was as threatening as Silvia’s.

“I was ready the moment I was turned,” she said.

What happened next, Adrian could neither perceive nor follow with his eyes. It was like both Claudia and Silvia disappeared in an instant and in the next; Claudia was standing at the end of the room with two wounds on her abdomen and one on her left shoulder. Silvia was on the other side of the room. She was standing on top of a table and blood was flowing from her cheek and chest.

“Three slashes from a black sword and you’re still standing?” Silvia said, breathing heavily.

“I-I didn’t expect a human to move as fast as you do,” Claudia said. “So this is what a black sword feels like... gosh, they are a pain. And it seems the wounds caused by them take more time to heal.”

Both of them fell into fighting stances.

Silvia attacked and slashed her sword at Claudia. Claudia dodged and tried landing a punch on her opponent's face. With a flip, Silvia was in the air, twisting her body and throwing a dagger, hidden in her coat, at Claudia. With incredible speed, Claudia caught the dagger and let go immediately.

“Soaked in Tolus herbs,” Claudia stated as Silvia landed on the other table.

“Vervain also works wonders but for you, I decided on something more... potent,” Silvia replied.

Claudia flashed her sharp canines, took off her jacket, and charged at Silvia.

It was an incredible sight. Both of them were evenly matched. Silvia slashed her sword again. Claudia leaped into the air, performed a quick front flip, and tried landing a kick on Silvia. who dove to her right. The impact from Claudia’s kick snapped the table into pieces. Silvia bounced off the ground and swung her sword. Claudia grabbed Silvia’s shoulder, somersaulted behind her, and threw her across the room. In mid-air, Silvia twisted her body, broke her crash against the wall with her legs, and landed on the floor.

Claudia smiled and suddenly disappeared.

“Outside! Let’s go, Adrian,” Silvia shouted.

When they got outside Adrian couldn’t believe what his eyes saw. The Hunters... They were all down.

“Don’t worry they’ve just been knocked unconscious,” Claudia said. She was standing on top of the roof of the dinner.

“Now I can get serious,” Claudia said, claws extending from her fingers. She jumped off the roof and dashed at Silvia.

Silvia caught Adrian by the hand and they both dodged the attack. Adrian heard a large bang behind him. Cracks in the ground spread from where Claudia had landed and there was a wide hole. Claudia shot out of the dust rose that had formed. Her eyes were blood red and her teeth were fully extended.

She smiled and came at Silvia again with a punch. Silvia used her sword to block but Claudia’s punch was so powerful that Silvia was sent flying in the air. Echoes of glass shattering filled the area when she crashed into a store behind Adrian.

Adrian swung his sword at Claudia but she simply caught it with one hand.

“Adrian.”

Claudia’s eyes... Adrian saw tears flowing out of them. She let go of the sword and she was about to say something else when suddenly Silvia was standing next to them, landing a powerful knee attack in Claudia’s abdomen and pushing her some distance away.

Silvia gripped her sword tightly and attacked. Adrian watched the two of them fight. Power and grace were behind both their movements. Adrian was nowhere near Silvia’s level. If she was having trouble defeating Claudia then how did he, at his level, expect to fight Richard?

He looked at his sword. No more, he thought. Adrian had clearly gotten soft for some reason. He had lost track of his purpose. Claudia and Silvia were still locked in battle so he had time to do what needed to be done.

Adrian moved his right foot forward and slightly bent both his knees.

Kill... kill all dark creatures.

I am a Hunter he thought. I will do whatever it takes.

“Adrian!”

It sounded like both Claudia and Silvia were calling for him but it was already too late. He opened his left palm and cut himself with his black sword. He closed his eyes. The pain... Adrian could feel it. The pain felt by every creature he had killed. It felt like razors cutting every inch of his body. This was a forbidden technique that was only to be used as a last resort. Black swords were weapons of power and the magic flowing through them could be channeled into ones one body. His entire body was in pain but if he could get past it then...

“Adrian!”

Two hands grabbed Adrian by the shoulders. He opened his eyes and saw Claudia.

“Adrian, please stop, just...”

A cold chill run down Adrian’s spine when a sword shot out of Claudia’s chest and warm blood splashed on his face. Standing behind Claudia was Silvia. The Grandmaster had used Claudia's momentarily drop in defense to launch an attack.

Silvia pulled and sheathed her sword. Her coat was partly torn, she was covered in bruises, blood was streaming down her hands and she was breathing heavily.

Claudia’s eyes returned to their normal brown color and so did her features. Even with a hole in her chest she embraced Adrian and said, “The pain I feel now. I am glad you didn’t have to experience it for much longer. That technique you were about to use... Adrian, please never use it. You are strong on your own and you will become even stronger someday...”

The vampire fell to her knees. Adrian raised his hand and stopped Silvia from attacking.

“It’s already done,” he said, laying Claudia on the ground. “She will die soon.”

Adrian bent down to Claudia and held her hand. It was cold... Claudia didn’t have much time...

“Adrian, let me see your face,” Claudia said softly.

Adrian dropped his hood and took off his mask.

“This town,” Claudia continued. “I have loved every moment of being here. I gave up my old ways just so I could have a life like the one I have enjoyed for the past seven years. Who would have thought that a killer like me would one day die trying to save a life... a life of a human no less...”

Claudia’s voice was becoming lower.

“Adrian... Ashley is in danger...”

“Ashley? What about her?” Adrian said.

“Let me show you,” Claudia said raising her arm. “But you have to trust me.”

Adrian let Claudia place a finger on his temple. Adrian opened his mind to Claudia and he saw the image of a luxurious white villa surrounded by trees. The directions of how to get there also appear in his mind.

“Ashley is there,” Claudia said. Cracks formed across Claudia’s body and she started crumbling into dust. She had lived for ten thousand years after all.

Suddenly, Claudia’s eyes widened as if taken by surprise. A smile that could only be described as beautiful formed across her face.

“What?” Adrian asked gently.

“It seems to be close to one's demise brings back a lot of memories,” Claudia said, her eyes shining with happy tears. With her lips shaking, Claudia sighed happily and said, “So this is what being at peace feels like. Ashley... Someday day she will know to... Someday she will remember.” Claudia’s smile widened even more. “That fool... I can’t believe he’s always been there for her... for them... for all of us... Just like he promised...”

After those last words, a gentle wind blew past them and carried Claudia’s dust with it.

Thunder rumbled in the sky and it eventually began to rain heavily.

The rest of the Hunters began to wake up.

“I have never seen a dark creature die with so much peace,” Silvia said. A spark of sorrow filled her eyes. “I have heard that only darkness awaits them.”

“Then Claudia will find peace in the darkness,” Adrian said, standing up. “You’re leaving?”

Limping away, Silvia simply waved her hand and said, “My job here is done. I wish you luck with your Jarand Hanat. You saw her power, didn’t you? You are about to fight something far more powerful than she was. She could have killed us at any moment you know? Claudia didn't even release a fraction of her power.”

“Is that why you brought me along?” Adrian asked. “You were counting on the possibility that she wouldn’t attack me and you used that to your advantage.”

Silvia never turned back or said anything else. She kept her head down even as she entered the portal that opened.

Adrian picked up his sword. All the Hunters, including the other captains, were staring at him.

“We await your orders, sir,” Emery said, walking to him.

Adrian sheathed his sword behind his back and said, “We head for the woods.”

My Grand Hunt begins now.

***

Claudia truly lived... Own every second in this world guys.

Thanks for reading this chapter!!