Bruce Hickman

"Hawk, where do you think our brother has gone to? We seen to have lost his trail" Angel said.

"Well it is possible that Nightwing has figured that he is being followed and is trying to elude us by a sudden course change, but I highly doubt that is what he did. More than likely he ducked off to see who is following him so that he can be better prepared for any future confrontation" replies Hawk. The two headed off into the night in search of their brother Nightwing, for he is on a mission from which he must be stopped or mankind is doomed for all eternity. The hunters soar through the air traveling back the way they came so that they, in hope, might find Nightwing and stop him for once and for all.

"Hawk, look down there, an old farmhouse. Do you thing he might have stopped there?"

"That is possible sister. Maybe we should stop and check it out. After all, what could it hurt?"

"Yeah, you"re right, lets go." The two Vampirics swept down upon the house, like two buzzards on carrion, only to discover to their horror, the remains of their brothers" handy work. When they entered the house, what they found, far out weighed the atrocities outside. Sprawled on the wall in the blood of the dead farmer was a warning to those that dare to follow him,

"Let they who hunt, be hunted."

"Do you think..."?

"It could be no one else. Our brother knows that he is being followed and he will stop at nothing to see that his mission is completed. So now we must do whatever we can to try and stop him before he finds our mother."

"Agreed, but it will be light soon and we haven"t rested in three day"s. We should rest this day. I don"t believe he will travel any farther this day."

"How is it that you know these things about Nightwing?"

"I am not really sure. Mother tried to explain it to me once but I just didn"t really seem to understand. I do know that it has something to do with the legend of Dracos Kulata."

"Our dragon brother? But he is only a legend. He is not real."

"We don"t really know that and he wasn"t a real dragon. He was a Vampiric like is only when he was born, the people didn"t know what he was. They called him a dragon and feared him for many years until he began to help the village like the legend says."

"Tell me the legend Angel. Mother would never tell it to me and she would become angry when I would ask why. So will you please tell me the legend?"

"I will my brother. It all began about twelve thousand years ago. As you know our mother, in exchange for great power, became a familiar and lover for a high level demon. For many years her power grew. One day the demon gave her a book of the dead. The book contained only one spell that was uncompleted and the only way to complete the spell was to cast it repeatedly until it had revealed itself to her fully. This was not known to her. So on the night they were to be wed, she went to the demon, as she so often did. But this time instead of making love to him she drove an enchanted dagger into his heart, killing him."

"Before the demon died, he placed a curse upon her that she would live forever but her beauty would be stripped with age. Determined to fight the curse, she studied the spell until she was familiar with it. She then went out into the night and began casting the spell upon newly born children, stealing their life force to keep her young looking. But the spell was not complete and with time the beauty faded and the spell had to be recast, revealing more and more of the spell each and every time. Slowly the spell was revealed to her and soon she discovered how to make the beauty last more that a few years at a time."

"She must cast the spell upon her own child at the exact moment of birth upon which the spell would incubate for sixteen years. On the sixteenth year of the child"s life, the child"s heart and soul would go to the mother to keep her beautiful for three hundred years. The child did not die. It was transformed into a seven-foot tall creature with razor sharp talons, fangs, black leathery skin, and bat like wings spanning twenty-eight feet with a need for human blood to survive.

Dracos was not evil in any way known to man, unless survival is evil, then he is as guilty as can be. At first, he would kill whomever he captured. After time he noticed that the towns people were being attacked on the road, going to and from the market, by bandits. They sought to steal and destroy all that they could for no apparent reason, other than to posses other people"s property illegally. They had no remorse and no feelings whatsoever.

After witnessing such acts of pure unadulterated violence, he decided to take it upon himself to protect the travelers on the road leading to the village, of which he lived just outside of in a small cottage with his mother. So for many years he protected the travelers, always keeping in the shadows away from the eyes of the people he sought to protect. One day a lovely young lady was traveling the road with a tall well-built man. As he gazed upon her beauty he failed to see the band of thieves in the woods just down the road. He watched in horror as the wagon was attacked by the thieves. Two of the men pulled the lady out of the wagon and held her, forcing her to watch as the man was tortured, beaten, battered and finally killed in a way to brutal to describe. After they had finished with the man they turned their attention to the woman. What they did right before his unseen eyes made a rage so powerful and raw well up within his body that he exploded from the trees in a pure fit of rage he swooped down on the unsuspecting band. He proceeded to enact a vengeance, the likes of which have never and will never be seen on this earth again. After his rage had been spent, he collapsed, drawn and worn from the punishment he had just exacted on the men.

The lady, though hurt and afraid, went to the creature who had helped her and tried to comfort him as best that she could. He soon regained his strength and thanked the woman for her kindness and courage. He swore that he would protect her from that day on. He flew her back to the outskirts of the town and told her to give a message to the towns" folk.

Dracos said, "tell the people of the town that the roads and the village where they live will be forever under my protection so long as they wish it to be, but the day they stop caring is the day I will stop protecting. Never forget this."

She told the towns people what he had said and what he had done for her. They swore to always remember. To prove their loyalty, they went forth into the woods and thanked Dracos for his kindness. So it went on for many years, he protected the town and the town accepted him for what he was, a saint in a devils body.

The times changed and the people soon began to forget about their protectorate, all except for the woman who became his wife. As the towns people forgot about him, he soon stopped protecting the town, as he swore he would do on the day of the meeting, if they ever forgot about his kind deeds. He kept that promise and a watchful eye as the town was slowly and steadily besieged by armed bandits and small armed forces. Not once did he help the town.

One day one of the elders of the town, who remembered the promise the town made so many years ago, came to the cottage where Dracos resided and asked why he would let the town be ravaged by these men.

"I ask of you old one" Dracos asked, "do you remember the promise of the town to never forget my deeds of kindness?"

"Yes of course" he replied.

"Than know this old one for I have seen it with my own eyes that the town has forgotten my kindness. They have not taught the stories to their children. This I know to be true for I have seen no children about to investigate the legend. All children must see for themselves if the legends and stories are true, this I know from my own childhood. Children have a great curiosity. If you wish to have your town helped, then teach the stories to the children and remind the town of its promise made so many years ago."

He swore to do so and for days upon days the old man told the stories to those who would listen and made the town remember its promise. After many days Dracos came to the town wearing a leather jerkin and long cloak with a deep hood to hide his ident.i.ty from the towns people. He saw the old man in front of one of the stores along the main road and was pleased to see the crowd listening so intently to the stories.

The old man told tales of bravery and courage by the protectorate of the town. Dracos was pleased with what he heard from the old man and was pleased to see the look of amazement on the faces of the children. He returned home and told his mother of what he saw and swore to return to the town the next day to renew his vow of protection for the town and its people.

Hundreds of years pa.s.sed and the town grew but never forgot the vow of their protector. The town grew a great reputation and remained safe for more than a hundred years, until a king who thought he should rule the township, threatened to invade and take it by force if they did not surrender to his rule. The town felt secure enough to refuse the kings demands and swore they would fight to the death to protect their town. They would follow no man who did not follow the ways of truth, honesty, kindness and compa.s.sion, none of which the tyrant king cared about. He only cared about power and money. War was waged against the town, men in full armor fought against farmers with pitchforks and homemade weapons.

Dracos watched as the town fought in full glory protecting what was rightfully theirs and what no man could ever take away from them, their freedom. The battle was going in the way of the farmers at first. Then the king ordered in archers and Calvary troops to cut down the farmers and the tide was changing in the favor of the king. It was thought that he might win this war until into the heart of the battle, like an angel of death, Dracos swooped down upon the approaching armies and tore them apart turning the tides of war back to the farmers. When the king realized he could not win, he surrendered and swore to never return.

The towns" people celebrated the victory with song and dance, wine and ale. The town was once again full of life and Dracos went home to his wife and mother. He told them of the battle and of the courage of the people. Even though the town had not forgotten him, it was time to move on.

The lord has spoken to him before the battle and told him of a gift he wished to bestow upon him for his selfless acts down through the centuries. Dracos could not figure out what else the lord could give him for he had granted a prayer for his wife to be immortal as he was. It was granted because his request was made out of love for his wife. That night he lay down with his wife and an unusual weariness came over him and sleep soon took him. When he awoke in the morning to find his wife looking at him with an odd look on her face, he questioned her.

"What is it my love? Why do you gaze upon me with such an unusual look of love?" Dracos asked.

"It is you, my love. You have changed" she replied.

"Changed? How do you mean?" He asked of her.

"Look in the mirror" she said.

Dracos did look and what he saw amazed him so that he almost forgot how this came about. He soon went outside and in prayer, thanked the Lord for his kind gift for he has made him a happy man. The lord spoke to him,

"Know this Dracos. I have given you this gift, for it is what you have desired all of your life, but I have bestowed a gift unto your wife as well. She is as you are. Now live well and be well but always remember that I am watching. You have earned this gift that I have bestowed upon you. Help others as you have helped these people and other treasures await you my son."

"Thank you Lord" he replied with tears in his eyes.

"Dracos, my husband, I have something to show you" Melissa called out.

"Then come forth and show me my dear" Dracos replied.

She stepped out and Dracos noticed she was taller, her hair and skin were more beautiful then ever before. When she was on the porch, she spread out beautiful white wings. Dracos had gone from a creature with leathery black skin and jet-black hair with bat like wings to a handsome man with long golden hair, soft, smooth, silky skin and feathery wings the colors of the rainbow. Dracos once again thanked the lord for his kindness.

The two took to the air and soared for many hours upon their wings of beauty. When they returned to their home, the place was empty. His mother had moved on and they felt it was time to do the same. The two went to the clearing in the woods where they had been married and made their plans to leave.

"Where shall we go? We know only this town and its people" Melissa stated.

"Than we shall go east and see what we can find. Who knows, maybe another town could use our help and protection" Dracos replied.

"Yes. East we shall go then and see what lays before us" she agreed. After they had decided to go east, they were both startles by a man"s voice.

"You would leave us and not say good-bye; after all we have done for you throughout the centuries?" The man asked.

"No, of course not. We would never do such a thing. You have all been very kind to us. We are very grateful but the time has come for us to move on for there is nothing more we can do here. You have found a strength the likes of which I have never seen. Together you can not be defeated by any force, be it man or nature, but stand alone and you will fall like a tree at the end of a wood cutters ax. So remember this day, a day of victory for the town of Glockshear. Always remember, if ever you need help, you have only to look to your friends, neighbors and fellow townsmen for they will all stand behind you as you would stand behind them. Go now and live in peace, and thank you. We will never forget you." He said.

Dracos and his wife took to the air and headed east. No one has ever seen them since though some say that he is still around always watching and helping out other Vampiric in need.

"Tell me sister, with all those that have been transformed into such beautiful creatures, how can you tell if it is him?" Hawk asked.

Angel replied, "I don"t know how we can tell if it is him. I guess we will just never know "eye brother."

"I guess your right, besides, it is probably best that we don"t know anyway" he said solemnly and with that they took to the air in search of their brother.

"Ho there Vampirics, what by thy name?" A voice called from above them. They stopped and hovered in the air to meet the other. He asked again, "I say, what be thy name?"

"I am Hawk and this is my sister Angel. And who might you be?" Hawk asked.

"They call me, the Traveler. I go around helping out others like us. So what is it you are searching for my friends?" He asked.

"We are looking for our brother" Hawk replied.

"Ah yes, the dreaded Nightwing. Well I would be more than happy to help you" the Traveler said.

Hawk asked "what do you know of our brother and how did you know it was him we were after?"

"Simple," he replied "as I said I am the Traveler. I hear things in my travels. I have been looking for you for many days now. Lucky I found you when I did, but anyway, you won"t find him in that direction. He is headed northeast now. Go that way for about two miles. You"ll see a large farmhouse. Stop there and they will help you. Tell the Traveler sent you."

"We thank you for your help kind sir" Angel replied. They headed northeast until they came to the farmhouse where they landed and knocked on the front door. A few seconds later a small but lovely woman answered the door.

"Yes, can I help you" she inquired?

"We were sent here by the Traveler" Angel answered.

"Oh, well then, do come in. I"ll go get my husband and please, be seated" the woman said. A few minutes later a large Vampiric walked into the room.

"So the Traveler sent you, "eye?" He asked.

"Yes sir that is correct" Hawk replied.

"What is your name boy?" The Vampiric asked.

"I am known as Hawk and this is..."

"I know who she is. She is your sister, Angel" he stated matter-of-factly.

"Well, yes, but how did you know that?" He asked.

"I know many things boy" he replied.

"I beg to differ with you sir, but I am no boy, for I am over three hundred years old" Hawk said.

"Bah! You are no more than a mere boy to me for I am over two thousand years old and have seen more things than you will ever see in your lifetime. I know more than any man dead or alive. So don"t tell me you are not a boy until you can boast the same claims I have just made, but be prepared to prove it boy!"

"My apologies sir. I meant no offense" Hawk said to the man.

"Fear not boy, for no offense was taken by your comment. You were only defending your honor as I once did when I was your age."

"Well then, I understand that you can help us with a problem that we seem to be having with a brother of ours."

"Yes I know. The Traveler told me of your quest to stop Nightwing from finding and killing your mother. Though many of us wish to be human once again, we do not want Nightwing to be in control of the spell that would make it possible. We fear that if it fell into his hands, the world would suffer eternal darkness and d.a.m.nation." And so the preparations began and for many days they planned, worked and searched for the best means of destroying the dreaded Nightwing, for even though he is kin to the rest of the Vampirics, he is by far the most evil of them all.

"Well after many days of preparing, I thing we have finally done it my boy, for I do believe that with these weapons you should be able to defeat our brother" the Vampiric said.

"Yes, I do believe you are right" replied Hawk.

"Well now, you had better get some rest for you have to head out tomorrow, bright and early or I fear you will not be able to catch your brother in time."

"Yes, but you know as well as I, that we do not need to sleep."

"True, but try anyway."

"I will" and with that Hawk went of to bed nervous with antic.i.p.ation about the up coming battle with Nightwing.

"Ho there, my friend. How be you this night?" Calls out a voice from the dark.

"Traveler, you old dog, how have you been?"

"Good, and yourself?"

"Never better. So what brings you here?"

"Business, I"m afraid."

"Oh. What happens to be the problem?"

"It"s Hawk."

"Ah yes, a fine boy he is but he is not strong enough to fight Nightwing yet."

"I know that is what I am afraid of my brother, for I fear that he may lose and Nightwing will kill him. Then there will be no one to stop him from getting the spell."

"I to have feared that as a possibility but worry not, for he is the chosen one. The one who will lead us to victory over the evil ones of our brood and besides Nightwing will not kill one so young. There is no challenge in it; after all they die so easily."

"Your right, I guess I am just worried for my time here grows shorter by the day and I have not much time left."

"I don"t understand. We live forever. We can"t die of old age or any other natural causes."

"I know but my wife has pa.s.sed on and I so wish to join her in the after life so everything must be perfect. Do you understand?"

"Yes. I will do what I can to help out the boy in the times to come."

"No! Your time has come. You must move on, for the boy will not recognize you in the morning when he rises."

"What do you mean he won"t recognize me?"

"Look at your hand and you will understand what I mean." He did so and upon seeing the golden color of his once black leathery skin and the rainbow hews of his now feathery wings, tears of joy came to his eyes, where once no tears would ever come before." It is beautiful. Thank you."

"Don"t thank me. Thank G.o.d and your wife, for it was she who prayed for it and he, seeing your true kindness saw fit to grant her prayers for the both of you. Your wife is like you now, a winged beauty of the sky. Unlike me, you and your wife will pa.s.s over in time but fear not for you will see the dawn of a new age before that ever happens. Get your wife and be gone from here before the morning."

"I will and thank you." With that the Traveler and the Vampiric went inside of the cabin for there was still one more thing that had to be done.

"Angel, I need to see you for a minute."

"Traveler, what is it?"

"I have something to tell you. You are not a Vampiric. You were not born of the spell. You are an angel of mercy sent down to help out Hawk but there were some problems and your memory was affected. Now it is time for you to know the truth and if you don"t believe me, then search your heart and you will see that I am right."

"No need, for I know that you can not lie to me. If I am truly an angel, then that would explain my lack of hunger for blood. So what am I to do now?"

"Fly into the sky, straight up as high as you can go and beyond. Always remember that Hawk loves you."

"I will. Tell Hawk that I will always love him and that I wish him luck in finding his brother."

"I will. Now go and fulfill your true destiny." As she flew up into the air he watched and admired her, for she was one of the true winged creatures and not an abomination such as the Vampirics. Although they were created, they are still not of a true nature. Throughout the years, n.o.body seemed to really care anymore, for most Vampirics are accepted for what they are. Since they are not seen throughout most of the light hours few people even realize that so many of them exist, living among them, devouring the most evil of all people.

Hawk rose from his unusually deep sleep to find the Traveler standing over him. He noticed the others were gone. "Where are the others?" Hawk inquired.

"They have gone and I"m afraid that you will never see them again" he answered.

"What do you mean I"ll never see them again? Where did they go?"

"I have something very important I must tell you."

"Well, out with it already."

"There is something you must know about your sister. She is not one of you. She is an angel, one of G.o.ds true creatures. She was sent down to help you with your battle against Nightwing. The time had come for her to return. The others were given the gift that they were desperately seeking. Like the others, they have crossed over and no longer require human blood to survive. I have something to reveal about myself as well. I fear you may not believe me because you seem to think that I am a legend. I am no legend."

"I am quite real, for I am Dracos Kulata and for your entire life I have watched you. I have hoped that one day you would be strong enough to fulfill you destiny and become the greatest Vampiric in the world. I am afraid you will never receive the gift that the others have. There will come a day when you will no longer require human blood to survive. It will be a day when blood will no longer be needed at all. You will be able to eat as humans eat and know the taste of human foods." I can not wait for that day, Hawk thought to himself.

"So how are we going to defeat my brother without the help of the others?"

"You don"t need the others. All you need is to believe in yourself and with a few special weapons that I have created for you. You should be able to at least injure him in this, the first of many confrontations."