The Grim Legion

by Kindred Ult

  He found Varus where he had left him just a minute ago and asked him first.

  "Varus, I want you to join the squad of which I recently became the leader."

  Varus was perplexed. "Say what?"

  "I just became the leader of a squad and you are the first one I want to join it. We will be headed to the front of the battle between werewolves and vampires, and there is a very large chance that we will all die. Only accept my offer if you are very contented to end your last life." Demenn tried to convey exactly what the reality was.

  Varus smiled. "Okay, sounds like misery, hard work, and a high chance of death. What's the catch?"

  Demenn smiled back. "The catch is that you get to keep any heart you kill, and that each heart you eat will make you stronger. Also, I promise that if we meet a first class werewolf and somehow defeat it, you will be the one to receive its heart."

  Varus thought for a moment. "So, eating a first class heart would basically…"

  "Make you my equivalent, yes." Demenn agreed.

  Varus stared hard at Demenn, as if he were trying to find some hidden motive behind his benevolence, but then he smiled again. "Sure, why not. Although I'll warn you, if I become as powerful as you, I might try to kill you."

  Demenn chuckled. "I do not doubt that. Anyway, come with me as I try to find the other five that I need."

  They exited the castle and headed to the left, zigzagged through a few alleys, and eventually came to a nondescript house. Demenn knocked once and, when nothing happened, knocked again. When no one answered he sighed. "I hate when I have to do this." He then proceeded to knock many times at different tempos and with varying strength. Once he finished the door opened itself and Varus followed Demenn inside.

  The first thing Varus noticed was that a strange green smoke was wafting around the stagnant air, the second thing he noticed was that the door closed behind him once he entered the room past it. Besides these two things, though, Varus could find no reason to justify entering this room. It was a one-room house with no windows and barely any furniture, but even stranger to him was that no one was there.

  "What're we doing here?" He asked with a little annoyance.

  "Finding Sophella, the second one." Demenn walked over to one of the walls and rapped on it. He shook his head and walked over to the opposite one and rapped on that one as well. He smiled, even though Varus could hear nothing different in the two, and walked to the left. Once he had walked a predetermined amount he stopped and reached up. To Varus's amazement his hands disappeared once they passed an invisible line. Demenn turned his invisible hands to the left, and in an instant Varus was not where he was. It was a disconcerting experience, but somehow comfortable. In another moment he was back to being where he was and where he was just happened to be a different location from where he had been before he stopped being where he was. Just thinking about him made him dizzy.

  Where he was now was a spacious cavern with a large amount of magical lighting, beautiful furniture, and some beautiful tapestries. In the far corner of the cavern sat a petit blond vampire in a flowing dress. She was reclined on a bent wood chair and was reading some book. Once they arrived she closed the book, causing it to disappear, and looked at them. She frowned and the lights all around the cave lit up. Once she got a good look at the two vampires she smiled and stood.

  "Demenn, it's always a pleasure to have you visit me in my humble home. Oh, and I see that you have brought a guest with you. Can I reanimate him?" She was rather short, thin, and had a high voice. Her red pupils somehow fit her golden blond hair.

  Demenn smiled. "Hello Sophella. Unfortunately, I am here on business, and no, you cannot reanimate this one. Sophella, this is Varus." She walked over and shook his hand. Varus could tell from the strength of her grip that she was relatively weak.

  "Fifth class," she reaffirmed for him. "I never did go for that whole powering up thing. Now, Demenn, what business could you possibly have with such a low class as myself?" She placed her hands akimbo, just daring him to agree with her.

  Demenn ignored her challenge. "I recently became a first class, as I am sure that you can tell, and I need to form a squad to go to the north—"

  "No." Sophella looked away.

  "I need you as our magical expert. I will be going with six others no matter what you say. If we all die, could you forgive yourself?" She was looking away, so she could not see Demenn smile at Varus.

  Sophella turned back around. "I have spent ten years as a vampire, and in all that time I have sustained myself without the use of werewolf blood, why would I start now?"

  "Because you know just how greatly becoming a first or second class would affect your magical abilities. You were strong enough to defeat a class four before you were even a vampire, and I know that you have spent your ten years here increasing your spells." Demenn looked sincere.

  She looked at him, looked away, and looked back at him. She smiled slowly. "Fine then, I'll join your suicide attempt, but if I die I'll be coming back for you and kill you."

  "I would expect nothing less from a Necromancer as powerful as you are." Demenn's smiled deepened and in a second the three of them were back outside of the house they had entered.

  "Where to now boss?" Sophella had somehow changed from her dress to the clothing vampires usually wore when traveling. She also had a small pack on a strap around her shoulder.

  "Now we get Leon and Rafael." Demenn headed towards a side street on the right.

  Sophella followed but scrunched up her face. "Those two vulgar asses? Do we really need them in our group?"

  "Yes, we do, they are both class three and work perfectly together. They may be a bit uncouth, but I assure you that there are no two vampires you would ever want to have your back." Demenn turned the corner and stopped for a moment before continuing on his route.

  "Oh, there's no way I'm letting those two lechers anywhere near my back." Sophella lengthened her stride to keep up with Demenn.

  Despite himself, Varus chuckled a bit at their conversation. He immediately regretted it as Sophella turned around to coldly regard him while walking. "And that goes for you to mister. Make a move and I can guarantee you your third life will come soon and be very unpleasant."

  Varus shuddered at the thought of being controlled by a necromancer. The rest of the walk was in silence. Varus was afraid to talk, but even as they walked he derided himself for being afraid of a mere fifth class. They walked until they reached a courtyard and Demenn stopped. Varus once again could not tell what was happening, but then he heard the sound of crashing metal and, and he slid his way around Demenn and Sophella. In the middle of the courtyard, two shirtless vampires were sparring each other. Even as he watched them, Varus could tell that they were third class, but even then, he wondered if he could beat either of them.

  The first one, Rafeal, fought with two curved silver blades, and he was the essence of the attacker. He used both of his weapons in perfect unison to block, attack, or do both at once. He seemed to constantly expose himself to the other's blade while at the same time never allowing it to touch him. As the two battled, he was the one advancing the most. He swung strike after strike and threw in a few kicks just for good measure. He was an immaculate fighter.

  The second, Leon, fought with one large, two-handed sword. He seemed to be the complete opposite of the other. He had a perfect defense. Even though he was constantly forced to give ground to the other, he still found a way to block every strike and work his way around him so that he was never forced out of the circle of the courtyard. He never took either of his hands off of the handle of his sword, and he was always either perfectly blocking or perfectly attacking. His blocks were perfect, he kept his hands low, never letting them go above his chest, and let the large blade of his sword take any and all of the other's attacks. He only attacked when he either needed to create space or if there was no chance he would be countered or hit, but when he did he used his entire body to make the strike as hard as he could.
He would stomp on the ground with his foot, shift his hips, roll his shoulders, and lastly swing down his arms.

  As they battled, Varus could tell that they were very used to each other's fighting style. Rafael never tried to block the other's strikes, he merely leapt back or shifted to the side as the strike dictated and tried to riposte as fast as possible. Leon never tried to attack with a counter, and Varus could tell that a counter was exactly what the other wanted. They battled fiercely for a few more minutes, but then Rafael lunged in with his two swords leading as Leon swung down. For a moment it looked like they would impale each other, but then they stopped at the last second. They took their weapons away from each other and bowed. Once their match ended they both turned to Demenn, and Varus saw a long red line rolling down from Rafael's left shoulder and two red lines rolling down Leon's chest. They had remarkable control.

  Rafael and Leon put their shirts on, sheathed their weapons, and walked over to Demenn and his small party. It was only at this point that Varus realized that they looked almost identical. They were about as tall as Demenn, and if not for their weapons and Sophella explaining which one owned which, he could not tell them apart. Both of them had brown hair and were of the same height and facial structure.

  "They're twins right?" He whispered to Sophella.

  "Yep." She whispered back.

  "Well, well, I guess you took down that wolf Demenn." Rafael spoke first.

  Demenn greeted them. "Yes, I did, and so now I am a squad leader. I am getting sent to the north and—"

  "Yes." They both answered at the same time.

  Demenn chuckled. "That was easy."

  "You know us," it was Leon this time. "We've been itching to get to the north, but they say that it's so dangerous you need to be in a squad or a unit to be admitted. We've just been waiting for someone to ask. Although I will say that it's good to have you as the leader."

  Demenn accepted the compliment and started walking off again. "Just two more."

  Leon and Rafael fell in line with Sophella and Varus. As they walked both Leon and Rafael looked Varus over and seemed to accept him. After that they reserved their attention for Sophella.

  "You know, you look amazing in leather Sophella." Rafael might as well have been salivating.

  "But they don't flatter you half as well as that dress did. You remember that one dress she wore way back." Leon smiled.

  "Oh boy do I."

  "Shut up you two, I swear if I have to put up with this for the entire war, I'll just kill you two and control you myself." Sophella did not even look at them as she walked.

  "Oh damn, she hasn't lost any of her spitfire." Rafael almost ran into a wall after they made a turn because he was not paying attention to where he was walking.

  "True, now if only we could get her to let out some of it on us." Leon chuckled as Sophella lifted her chin and walked faster.

  "Where are we going now?" Varus was mainly trying to change the conversation, but he was also rather curious. Demenn seemed to be acquainted with the strangest people.

  "Two more, first is Lidian. Do not mess with her, she is a second class, and was my equal when I was one as well." Demenn sounded like he was smiling.

  "Oh hey, she's a nice one isn't she?" Leon nudged Rafael.

  "Yep, she's that tall white-haired one with the good legs and the nice bod'." Rafael looked off into the distance of memory.

  Leon laughed. "Oh, you mean that one we almost beat?"

  "Yep, that's the one, the only second class vampire to beat both of us one at a time besides Demenn here. That was when we were fourth class though, so I don't know if it counts." Rafael grabbed his sword handles and looked menacingly at Demenn.

  "I assure you that if you would like me to show you that it counts, I would be very happy to show you." Demenn still sounded like he was smiling.

  "Yea, maybe we'll take you up on that." Rafael chuckled and took his hands off of his swords.

  "Or maybe he wants to fight us both at once." Leon was still looking at Sophella.

  Demenn laughed. "No, never that my friends, never that. Ah, we are here."

  They came up to a large, gothic house that looked as if a great artist made it. Demenn opened the large metal gate and walked inside the large tall wall that surrounded the residence. The others followed rather cautiously. A short trail of flat stones guided them across a beautiful garden and to the front door of the house. The door was large and made from pure Darkoven wood. It was engraved with many small, mythical creatures and had a knocker. Demenn reached up to knock on the door, but before he could grasp it, the door swung open and Lidian stood there in the standard suit with her scimitar in hand. She smiled as they gaped and walked out.

  "Yes, I will. You remembered our promise, I'm surprised." She started walking towards the gate.

  "I am shocked to think that you would believe me to be so forgetful Lidian." Demenn gave the others a grin before he walked after her. The others quickly followed. Varus turned out to be right behind Lidian, and he realized that what the two brothers had said was true. She was tall; maybe the tallest out of all of them, and had a wonderful body. Her white hair shone in the moonlight. She slowed down and soon they were walking next to each other. He looked up at her face and saw her smiling.

  "Hello Varus. How is second class?"

  Her knowledge and friendliness surprised him. "Um, it's good, I feel better than ever I suppose, but how do you know so much about me?"

  "I know almost everything that goes on in our society. I just seem to find things out before anyone else does. So, now that you're a second class, that means that you and I share the position of secondary leader. Usually, there is no second leader, but in cases of a first class leader, usually any second classes are selected as secondary captains." They were all walking at a fast pace, but she seemed to take no notice.

  Varus wondered where Demenn found all of these people. "Um, great. Listen, what was that about you and Demenn having a promise? Do you guys know each other?"

  She laughed. "Yes, Demenn and myself have been friends for awhile. While we were both second class we were equal in power, and we made a promise that the first one to be promoted would let the other be a secondary leader."

  Rafael butted in. "Hey, Demenn, who's the last person."

  "Hope it's another hot chick." Leon agreed.

  "Nope, it is not a woman. The last member we are getting is Niethel."

  Both brothers groaned loudly. "That dickweed? He's a worthless ass archer." Leon sniffed.

  "Yea, and he's only a fourth class, weak."

  Demenn paid no heed and just continued walking. Soon they reached the last house, it was a rundown old building connected to many other buildings. They were obviously in the slums of vampire society (if there were any), and the walls had holes in them while the roofs were barely there. Demenn knocked on the door, but when the door creaked on its hinges and no one answered, he beckoned the others to get out of the way. They cleared away from the door, and Demenn grabbed the handle. He held it for a moment before flinging it open and lunging to the side. No sooner had the door opened then an arrow flew from it and smacked into a wooden pole on the other side of the street.

  Varus wondered what was going on, but he was afraid to look into the door. Demenn smiled at him and beckoned for him to look. "Do not worry, he will not shoot again."

  Varus tentatively looked around the door and gasped. The walls of all of the old buildings had been torn down, and now the long line of apartments had become one room hundreds of feet long. At the end of the line of rooms sat a black-haired vampire with a bow in his hands. He yelled out to them.

  "That you Demenn? Well and here I thought it was someone else. Well, at least I got into that old post right? And that was before you even opened the door."

  Demenn walked in and started down the long line of rooms. "Yes, you did Niethel. Listen, I just became first class and I need you to join my squad. You are the long-range fighter that I want to keep t
he rest of us alive. I could also use your sword and dirk while I am at it."

  Niethel looked suspicious. "Where are you going?"

  "North for a bit." Demenn was only two hundred feet away now.

  "No." Niethel fit an arrow to his bow and trained it on Demenn.

  "Now, that is not a very nice way to thank the only vampire to give you a heart." Demenn was getting closer.