Kael Cor: A Vampire's Awakening Chapter 309 Journey II : Captured

Loud yelling, and Soren's roar of indignation and anger roused me up from sleep. We had made camp on a hill that was overlooking a village, and because from a distance the villagers looked somewhat primitive, we decided to wait for the break of dawn before making any sort of contact with them. According to Dracula, this village was sitting upon a really huge mass graveyard, and even though he says that we were only here for more training, I knew that this was just another stop on my map.

But still, before we made camp, I could see that the village was bare. Though it was a little bit large, there was nothing to write home about, and as if to prove my point, the damn village was sitting on a graveyard. The whole place made me feel uneasy, but this was just the worries I had in my mind, saying it out loud would make me seems superstitious. And in a place like Shearath, that's beyond stupid.

And so we decided to set up camp and make contact with the people once it was daylight, but I guess they decided that they couldn't wait any longer. I looked up just in time to get a boot to the face, it wasn't as painful as it was annoying, but I ignored the feeling of annoyance and just grabbed the offending leg, and then I proceeded to rip it away from the body it was attached to.

The spray of warm blood on my face was so relaxing and I exhilarating, if not for anything, but for the perceptible human flavor that was steeped within it. These villagers were not demons or vampires, they were humans, or at least in part anyway, and they were capable of great feats of strength.

I moved back, dodging a club to the face as I looked at Soren and the position he was in. Almost two Dozen of the villagers, both men and women had surrounded him, and a glowing magical net had been placed on his body to keep him bound. But Soren was fighting them every step of the way, struggling in his attempt to get to me so that we could face this threat together.

I looked around, and sure enough Dracula was nowhere to be found, heck I even suspected that he was the one who led these villagers here. I grabbed the approaching fist of one of the villagers, hoping to stop him in his tracks, that was a mistake. A spiral blast of energy flew from his fist and slammed into my chest, twisting every single bone within my body in the process.

As I flew through the air, my eyes widened in pain and shock, I realized that the energy net used to hold Soren, and was just used to knock me on my ass was something I was quite familiar with. It was soul energy! And these people were using it in ways I have never seen or imagine before, much less achieved. Where the fuck are we, and who were these guys. Nevertheless, let's go get me some answers.

My healing kicked in, and just in time too as I raised my hand and weaved the rune for shield above me, stopping the man who attacked me form finishing what he started. But even though I was fully confident in the resilience of my shield, the reality of the matter was a whole lot different than I thought it expected.

The first hit did nothing but shake me a bit, the second hit caused hairline fractures to show up on the body of my shield, and by the third hit, there was already visible yet massive cracks on the surface of the shield, the next strike would surely destroy it and I would be left exposed to him. However I was already fully healed, and even though it took a few more moments than usual, I was ready to kick some ass.

The shield broke apart, and the rune for push appeared on my right palm. I activated the rune, pushing my assailant away from me and into the air. He was thrown almost thirty feet up, and his startled screaming had drawn the attention of his comrades to me. I was pretty sure they all thought that Soren was the bigger threat, which was probably why they chose to go after him first and expend the most effort in capturing him. That was an oversight on their part, but I'm not so sure they were at a disadvantage. Because of frankly speaking, based on the amount of speed and strength they've shown, it's obvious that they can match me physically, and that's not including their amazing control and manipulation of soul energy.

I used Pull, and dragged the still airborne villager to the ground, making sure that he hit the ground hard enough that most of his bones were thrown out of alignment, if he was not already dead. But I was in for a huge surprise as he jumped out of the crater his body had made and roared at me in anger, green soul energy billowing off his body as his anger took over.

He was not completely unscathed, his left arm was bent at an awkward angle, and so was the ankle of his left foot. Looks like he landed on the left side of his body, but apart from his broken arm and dislocated ankle, I couldn't find anymore injuries.

A fall from that height won't hurt me, even with the speed with which I used to drag him down, but I had expected that he would be dead, or at least in a very terrible shape. But he was still standing, and he still looked combat ready regardless of his injuries. I realized that because I recognized that these group of villages where humans, or at least some part of them were, I had completely underestimated them and what they're capable of, a rookie mistake.

He shot towards me, his speed increasing with every second that passed, a trail of green soul energy blazing behind him. The same spiral soul energy technique he used in squeezing the bones in my body into pretzels was coated around his fist, as cool as it looked, I had no intention of letting that fist of his land on my body, so I shot towards him.

Even with his rage addled mind, he also seemed a little bit surprised that I would actually run towards him, headfirst into the danger that is posed. But this guy had no idea who he was dealing with. I called out my sword and shield, coated my body with my aura, giving me a layer of defense against his attacks, and then when I was just three feet away from him, I jumped into the shadow realm.

He looked confused at my sudden disappearance, and that same confusion was still etched on his face as I took his head off his shoulders. I had actually come out of his own shadow, it was just the early hours of the morning, as the sky of Transylvania was slowly brightening into the deep red that has become quite familiar to me. As his body toppled down, I came out of his shadow, flicking my sword to get rid of the blood on it as I faced the rest of the villagers.

"Arghhhhh! Nooooooo!"

Looks like this guy was quite important to this group of people, and based on the manic and downright ferocious look etched on their faces, I was sure these guys wanted to rip me to pieces. I looked to see that Soren was completely subdued, they even muzzled him, and damn it if that didn't piss me off. I pointed my sword at them, and kicked the head of the man I just killed towards them.

"All you fuckers have ten seconds to let my friend go, or you'll end up like nearly headless Nick here....except of course he's completely headless." I said to them as I began the countdown in my mind.

I didn't expect them to comply, I mean after all I just killed someone who's incredibly important to them, and they look like they would stop at nothing to make sure I pay for my transgressions. But rather than attack or comply, they all started chanting as they pulled out what seemed like ceremonial bone daggers. Though those daggers were made from bone, their edges were filed to a fine point, that glitter with a metallic luster. Those bone daggers were obviously not made from your average bone, but I was completely confused when they all started cutting themselves or in more extreme cases stabbing.

Were they so hurt by the death of their friend that they wanted to resort to the of mutilation or outright suicide to join him or something? These guys were weird, but what happened next seemed to put things in perspective for me. Just like their already deaf friend, there was an explosion of soul energy allover their bodies. It was a rather colorful sight with soul energies ranging from all shades of green, some blue, gold, red and even black. And I watched that as they kept on cutting and stabbing themselves, and as they did so, their energies got stronger and stronger, complete surpassing what I was capable of.

The Auras they were releasing now was not quite like a gods, but it was more like Grimgar's, a demigod. I would say that they were a step above me in power. I had to admit that this was a rather daunting and unfair odds, I didn't want to think about how impossible it would be for me to face more than two dozen people with power comparable to a demigod or should I say a Dracula. But I've never let unfair odds stop me before, I was going to face these weird Transylvanian super villagers with the best of my ability.

I was about to make a move when I felt a presence behind me, I moved to dodge, only to feel something impact the side of my head. I suddenly felt dizzy and swayed a bit, but I was able to get back up to my feet, dodging a claw swipe to my face, I moved closer and slammed a knee into the stomach of the person who clawed me. All I could hear was a dull thud and not a single sound of pain or discomfort from the person I just hit.

I felt someone encircle their hands around my chest as I was pulled up and away and thrown off the hill Soren and I were being ambushed on. I rolled down a bit, but used my aura to right myself. I was about to use my runes, and also transform into my half dragon form, but I felt a kick to my jaw that threw me into the air, completely disorienting me, as another kick came from the sky and slammed into my chest, cracking a few of my ribs.

I couldn't breathe, and just for a fraction of a second, my concentration lapsed, and I had no idea where I was. And they took advantage of that. Soon enough I had kicks and punches raining down of my helpless form, and with each hit, the power behind the strikes got stronger and stronger. But even though I was healing, every hit I received from them did not just break down my body, it was also attempting to break down my soul, and I had to place all my focus and energy into protecting my soul, it was all I could do as any lapse would in concentration would result in me being terribly injured if not dead, permanently. But as a result my body suffered for it.

In the end I totally lost track of the amount of punches and kicks that landed on my body. I was bloody, my bones were healing and being broken over and over again. I was filled with so much pain, but yet I didn't feel it. With my focus on my soul, I was able to achieve what I could do with my aura, completely negating the pain in my body.

I was raised to my feet, and my arms were stretched to the side, bound by the same soul whips that was holding Soren captive. I looked up, and noticed that I was surrounded by the villagers. Taking a closer look at them, I noticed that they had tribal tattoos allover their body, and the tattoos seemed to be moving allover their body. Taking a good look at all of them, I noticed that they were all exhausted, pale, and bleeding from a whole lot of wounds. I couldn't help but smirk as I said to them.
"What happened to you guys, you seem to have been through a lot Hahahaha." I got a punch to the face that caused a few of my teeth to fly out.

"Ouch, you guys seem to have a temper, why don't we introduce ourselves. My name is Kael of house Cor, King of the vampires and the Nephilims, Dragon king, and your friendly neighborhood badass. Hehehe, so what's your name."

*Bang!*

The knockout punch seemed to have rattled my brain a bit. But as I passed out, I couldn't help but feel a little grateful for the respite. However the very moment I wake up, I'm going to destroy this bloody village, and every single person in it, I'll eat them all. I was minding my own business and they attacked me, and also once I find Dracula, I don't care how, but I'm going to fuck that bastard up. But until them, I think I'll take a little nap.

Chapter end