Elpis

by Aaron McGowan

  The man grinned. “Areoseps Kanto?”

  Terico didn’t know what her full name was, but there probably weren’t too many Areos in the vampire city. “Yes, pretty sure.”

  “She’s my big sister!” the man said.

  Terico looked at the man for any sign of a resemblance, but quite frankly there wasn’t any. And this man had to be at least twenty years older than Areo, at least in appearance. Perhaps he became a vampire much more recently than her, though.

  “Don’t look so surprised,” the man said. “Most vampire families aren’t related by blood the way human families typically are... My name is Jenba, by the way. Areo and I have been training under the same mentor for the past four years. Areo’s one of the combatants in the Rite today. I imagine you came to see her fight?”

  “Yes, when does it start?” Terico asked. “And where will it be?”

  “There’s a large field with hills on the side for people to watch on,” Jenba said. “It’s near the center of the city, by the grand council edifice. It will start in a couple hours.”

  “Good, there’s still time then,” Terico said. “Can you take me there? I need to speak with her if I can.”

  “I suppose,” Jenba said, his expression difficult to read. “How do you know Areo?”

  Terico wondered what he should say. This Jenba seemed friendly enough, and perhaps Areo had told him all about Febraz already. It seemed safe to trust him. “It’s a long story, but I was marked by a vampire named Febraz, who says he is Areo’s father.”

  Jenba chuckled. “Oh, wow. I think Areo’s head will erupt when she hears this.”

  As Terico imagined, it sounded like Areo didn’t quite reciprocate the feelings her father expressed toward her. “I guess you know about Febraz then.”

  “I’ve never met the man myself,” Jenba said, “but I’ve heard plenty of... interesting stories about him—most of them from Areo herself. But let’s start heading to where the Rite will take place. We can talk on the way there.”

  “Hey!” the small girl cried. “Don’t leave me behind.”

  “Children shouldn’t watch the Rite,” Jenba said. “Go back home and finish your chores, or something.”

  “No way! I want to—”

  Jenba snapped a finger at the girl, his snap even louder than the one Febraz had done. The child turned and ran in an instant.

  Terico smirked. “So, vampires have the ability to snap really loud, eh?”

  Jenba tilted his head a little and raised an eyebrow. “No... I suppose I’m pretty good at it, but it has nothing to do with being a vampire.”

  Terico wasn’t so sure of that, but didn’t care to argue about it.

  On the way to the arena, Jenba explained a little about the style of fighting he and Areo were trained in. By relying on senses other than sight, they could not only fend off enemies with ease in the dark, but were unpredictable in their movements, disorienting their opponents.

  “So you have been with Areo for a while then?” Terico asked.

  “Yes, not long after she awoke from her hibernation, Areo and I began training under Master Nivakil,” Jenba said. “She’s progressed so quickly though, that she’s already prepared enough for the Rite.”

  “You think she’ll win then?” Terico asked.

  Jenba looked up to the long, overhanging branches of the man-groves. “To be completely honest, it will be difficult. She is no doubt a better fighter than her opponent, Krug. But it is likely the Rite will be set up in a way to work in Krug’s favor.”

  “Why?”

  “Persecution isn’t as bad as it once was, but there are still many vampires who would never accept Areo as a true vampire. She was just an accident, they would say. And so they will probably try to make sure she doesn’t win the Rite.”

  “That’s murder,” Terico said. “This is a duel to the death, right?”

  Jenba nodded. “This is an opportunity for elitists to kill Areo without actually getting their own hands dirty.”

  After showing him around the city for a bit, Jenba took Terico to the empty dirt field where Areo would be fighting. There were a large number of vampires gathered together to watch the Rite, sitting in long metal benches embedded into the steep hills on either side of the arena. There was probably room for at least a thousand people, but there were still spaces available in some of the lower rows.

  A short man in thick leather armor stopped them when they approached the arena. He looked even more pale than most the other vampires, which Terico didn’t think could be possible. “Hold up, now. You’re not a vampire...”

  Terico shook his head. “I know Areo, though. I’m... a friend of a friend.” Sort of.

  “He’s with me,” Jenba said. “There won’t be any trouble.”

  “I certainly hope so,” the guard said.

  Terico followed Jenba on down to an open area on the third row, not far from the middle of the arena.

  “Security is probably a bit more worried about this Rite than most,” Jenba said. “Some in the crowd will probably be... very upset if Areo wins.”

  “Great,” Terico said, suppressing a sigh. The last thing he wanted was a riled up arena of angry vampires to deal with.

  There was still some time before Areo and Krug would arrive, so Terico continued some of his conversation with Jenba. “You said you were Areo’s brother, then?”

  “We do everything together,” Jenba said. “It will be sad to see her go, assuming she wins. Of course, it will be even more sad if she loses.”

  Terico found it odd that Jenba wasn’t counting on Areo to win. “Shouldn’t you have a little more faith in her? You don’t seem to have too much hope that she’ll win.”

  Jenba turned to Terico and raised an eyebrow. “We have to be realistic in this world, Terico. That’s how Master Nivakil trained me and Areo—to analyze our situations with a clear mind. We can’t pretend that things will all work out all right if there’s a good chance they won’t.”

  Terico frowned. “So you always prepare for the worst, then.”

  “Not if the worst is highly unlikely,” Jenba said.

  Terico sat on his hands quietly and slumped forward, letting his thoughts reflect on Jenba’s words a bit. It seemed that “the worst” had been precisely what happened to him quite regularly over the past week. His parents murdered, his village destroyed, Turan captured, Suran missing, being marked by a vampire, fighting through hundreds of forsaken, getting tortured by the Elpis, getting separated from Jujor... and now this.

  This diversion better not cost my life, he thought.

  The crowds nearby grew quiet as a group of vampires pushed their way through, and stopped in front of a woman holding a dark gray sack. They forced her to open it, and then confiscated a red Nexi stone.

  “We’ll return it to you after the match,” the leader of the outfit said. He was a man with spiky red hair and a goatee, and was dressed in a similarly-hued suit. “We don’t want any interference for this match.”

  Terico leaned over to Jenba to whisper to him. “Some of the elites you were talking about?”

  Jenba turned around and nodded. “Look sharp. They’re coming this way.”

  The red-haired vampire folded his arms behind his back and grinned, baring his fangs.

  A man in a top hat beside him pointed at Terico. “I sense three Nexi stones.”

  “Evening, human,” the red-haired man said. “We’ll need to hold on to your Nexi for the duration of the Rite. We’ll return them to you afterward.”

  Terico didn’t like the idea of giving up his Nexi to these six random vampires, especially when he was supposed to use the black one to tip the event in Areo’s favor.

  “You run the Rite?” Terico asked.

  “We work in conjunction with those who do.” The red-haired man motioned to a number of vampires sitting at a table at one end of the arena. “They agree this will help ensure the match goes smoothly.”

  He held out his hand, and Terico took
a long look at it, trying to decide the best course of action. Causing a scene here wouldn’t help matters any, and Terico wasn’t in fit condition to fight with six vampires at the moment. Terico gave up his three Nexi stones.

  “Thank you for your cooperation,” the man said with a light smile. He and his five followers continued to make their way through the stands, guided to a few more Nexi stones by the vampire in the top hat.

  Terico wondered how he would be able to help Areo without Febraz’s black Nexi. Perhaps Areo will just win the match in ten seconds flat, and I won’t have to worry about it?

  Perhaps that was the kind of wishful thinking Areo and Jenba’s mentor warned them to avoid.

  “There he is.” Jenba pointed out to the opposite side of the smooth dirt field. “He’s our mentor. The one with the cane.”

  Sitting at the front row was a weathered-looking vampire with dark rings under his dim yellow eyes, which seemed to be staring off toward nothing in particular. Terico recalled he was blind—hence the cane. The man was dressed a bit like Jenba, but also wore a flat-topped, triangular black hat of some kind, embroidered with golden lettering in an ancient language Terico didn’t recognize.

  “Would you say he’s like a father to you and Areo?” Terico asked.

  Jenba laughed. “No, definitely not. I don’t know if I’ve ever met a man less cold and harsh than Nivakil. But he’s a true master when it comes to the hunt. In sparring matches, most don’t take him seriously because of his blindness. They always end up regretting it.”

  Terico wondered what effect such a teacher would have had on Areo. She was apparently a pretty tough girl before she ever met Febraz, considering how she lived on her own as a child. But Terico imagined rigorous training under someone like Nivakil could leave a significant impact.

  The lights of the white Nexi above the arena turned several times brighter all at once. The vampiric multitude covered their eyes and muttered obscenities under their breath. It took a few moments for Terico’s eyes to adjust, but it was only a mild annoyance for him in comparison.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  Jenba gritted his teeth and stared menacingly toward the table where the people running the Rite sat. “So that’s how it’s going to be.”

  “What?”

  “They’re making it extra-bright so it will be more difficult for Areo to win,” Jenba said. “It will just look like an accident to everyone here, since the Nexi can glow a bit brighter than usual from time to time...”

  “Won’t the brightness hinder the vampire she’s fighting, too?” Terico asked. “It’s clearly making everyone here uncomfortable.”

  “Areo is fighting Krug, one of Hidif’s trainees,” Jenba said. “Hidif is an elite who can afford to train her pupils in special facilities lined with extra-bright Nexi, meant to simulate the light of the sun to some degree. Areo and I couldn’t afford any of the special training that most Rite combatants receive, and we never had access to any of the facilities Krug has fought in these past eight years.”

  With the mangroves above glowing this bright, it would be difficult for Areo to win, since she never trained to fight in a setting this bright. Hidif perhaps trained Krug for the select purpose of having him fight under these rigged conditions.

  A few minutes passed before the participants for the Rite walked into the arena. Terico spotted Areo entering in front of the table the judges sat at. Just like in the small portrait Febraz showed him, Areo had a rather jagged face, and sharp, pointed brown eyes. She was squinting from the bright lighting, and didn’t appear to be carrying any weapons save for a single Nexi stone. Her hair was a bit more ragged than in the portrait, and she now had some off-white highlights—a sort of cream color. These ran down the center of her hair, and down the locks of hair in front of her ears.

  Her outfit was even more peculiar to Terico, though. It was a black and red long-sleeved turtleneck with a sort of caped skirt attached to the belt, but precariously cut open in the front. She also wore long black boots and a thick gold-colored belt.

  “Do your best, Areo,” Jenba called out to her.

  She walked toward the benches and looked up to him. “I will.” She looked to Terico and asked, “Who is this?” Her voice had a callous feel to it.

  “Ah... I’m Terico. Your father kind of asked me to come watch your Rite, and... report back to him.”

  Areo shut her eyes and slowly shook her head. “Febraz, Febraz. Let me guess. He wanted you to help me win the match.”

  “Sort of,” Terico said. “Yes.”

  Areo opened her eyes and frowned. “I have to win on my own, Tairigo.” She squinted from the light of the mangroves again.

  “I understand... Ah, here’s an idea though.” Terico turned to Jenba and slid off the man’s bandana.

  “What are you doing?” Jenba asked.

  Terico tossed the bandana to Areo. “You fight best in the dark, right? You might as well just blindfold yourself.”

  Areo tied it across her eyes and nodded. “Krug will probably use a white Nexi, thinking the extra light will hinder me further.”

  “How many Nexi do you have?” Terico asked.

  “We each only get one,” Areo said. “I’ll be using a tan one.”

  Terico understood this stone was a bit harder to control than most. “Best of luck, then.”

  For a moment he expected Areo to say she wasn’t one to rely on luck, but she simply turned away without responding. She walked toward the center of the field, a few meters from where her opponent was standing.

  Krug was a very thin, lanky man, who appeared to have become a vampire a couple years younger than Areo. He wore all white, and the sleeves of his shirt and trousers were very long, wide, and billowy. As Areo guessed, the man held a bright white Nexi in his hand. Terico wondered how effective it would be with Areo blindfolded.

  At any rate, the man stood tall and confident. He had short, slicked-back blond hair and a rather all-knowing look on his face. If Krug was concerned about the Rite at all, he was doing a good job hiding it. Terico doubted he would go easy on Areo though, considering this was a life and death situation.

  The two vampires faced each other a good four meters apart. At the front table, one of the judges announced that the Rite would begin at the ringing of a small golden bell one of the others held. It would be a fight to the death, and the one left standing would earn the Nexi known as the Rite stone, allowing the winner to travel the world as he or she pleased. A warning was then given that if there was any indication of cheating—by either the contestants or by friends in the audience—then the perpetrator would be killed on the spot.

  There was nothing more for Terico to do but sit and watch then, he decided. He clasped his hands together and sat forward, keeping an eye on both Areo and Krug. The two combatants readied their Nexi stones.

  The bell rang, and Krug immediately rushed for Areo, who waited a moment to gauge Krug’s footsteps. Simultaneously, they forced their fingernails to lengthen and thin into long, needle-like claws, at least ten centimeters long.

  Areo leaped back just as Krug swiped for her neck. Krug slid forward after her and swung again, his motions fluid. Areo hopped to the side and jabbed her claws for Krug’s chest. While still stepping forward, Krug leaned back and twisted to the side, avoiding Areo’s attack with ease.

  Areo skidded to a stop and lunged for Krug. She was quick. Krug blocked Areo with a grid of claws, then slid around her to tear into her back. Areo dashed forward, too fast even for Krug’s seamless movements.

  Areo’s quick and precise motions alone were impressive, but the fact she could duel this well while blindfolded made the feats that much more stunning. Yet after a couple minutes of this, it was clear Krug was starting to wear Areo out. While Areo’s movements were rigid and straightforward, Krug’s motions were slick and refined. His dodges and counterattacks constantly melded into one another, clear evidence of a much more sophisticated level of training. Areo needed to fi
nish him off now, because it seemed clear she wouldn’t outlast him if the fight dragged on much longer.

  Krug kicked for Areo’s head. She ducked and swiped for his leg still on the ground. Krug leaped forward, his vampiric strength propelling him higher than a human could manage. He swiped his claws for Areo’s back in the process, but Areo rolled forward before he could reach her. Upon landing, he spun in place and slipped out the white Nexi from his sleeve.

  He ran for Areo as she turned back around. She took her tan Nexi from a small pouch on her belt and aimed it for Krug. The earth in front of her erupted and formed into a giant arm and hand, a bit larger than a grown person. The hand of hardened dirt reached out for Krug, who swerved to the side and sliced through the hand’s thumb and index finger with his claws. He continued toward Areo, who leaped back as Krug blasted a burst of light from his Nexi. Even from the stands, Terico had to cover his eyes—the potency of this white Nexi was stronger than any he had ever seen before.

  Areo stumbled to the right, straight where Krug was already sliding toward. She leaped back immediately, but Krug still managed to claw across her torso, tearing through her clothes and drawing deep bloody marks from her left shoulder to her right hip.

  As Areo skidded to a stop, Krug sprinted for her again. She swiped her claws for Krug’s face. He leaned back—as he did so, Areo swiped for his stomach. She tore through his cloak, but Krug spun to the side and thrust claws straight through Areo’s outstretched arm. Screaming, Areo used her Nexi to force a giant hand to burst out of the earth between her and Krug. The hand of dirt slammed against Krug, who flew back a couple meters before stumbling to his feet.

  Areo gritted her teeth and turned back to Krug. How she could stand and fight after getting her arm skewered in five places was beyond Terico, but must have been a testament of her vampiric tenacity. Blood poured down her arm, soaking through her long sleeve. Krug licked the ends of his claws, looking even more energetic and confident than before. Terico recalled that blood gave vampires more power, and he began to worry a bit more for Areo’s life.

  And if Areo dies, I’m in trouble too, Terico remembered. She better have a secret ability she can fall back on, because her speed and blind fighting aren’t cutting it against this well-trained of an opponent.