The Gathering

[Gavner_Nahs]

"You have to be more vigilant than that child, or you'll never live long enough to be a War Prince!" Vir said with a smile.

"What do you mean child, Sir? I am thirty-eight years old!" Gavner replied, switching back to the formalities of the battlefield. Gavner had been blooded when he was eighteen and vampires aged at one tenth the rate of humans. He was thirty-eight but he had the appearance of a twenty year old.

"You may be thirty-eight, but allow me to remind you that I am eight hundred and forty three years old. Compared to me you are a mere infant." Vir said with a smile. Extending his hand, the vampire prince helped Gavner up.

"Your Majesty, I thought you were sick. How did you manage to join the fight?" Gavner asked.

"I am still sick, my boy. I was simply needed up here more than down in my deathbed," Vir said. "I have little strength, but what little strength I have I will use. Now go, join the fight my boy. I will follow."

Turning around Gavner noticed that the fighting had ceased. The remaining sailors were gathered around a duel. As Gavner’s bloodlust began to wear off, he and Vir inhabited the merchant ship alone, and the ocean slowly claimed the ship into more of its deadly embrace every moment. With no grapplings to tie the ships together, the Black Sails Armada ship had been pulling away. About fifteen feet of clearance remained between the ships, and they slowly drifted farther as the moments passed. Running to the edge of the ship Gavner leapt, clearing the distance between the two masses. Landing on the pirate ship, Gavner bumped into the ring of pirates and sailors who enclosed the duel. Still unable to identify the two contenders the vampire rushed to the quarterdeck, where he would have the high ground. Climbing the large wooden steps until he reached the top, Gavner stepped onto the quarterdeck to find Black Shadow and the First Lieutenant from the merchant ship spectating the fight intently.

“Shadow, what is happening?” Gavner asked his friend. He noticed a massive chunk of wood in the Dark Archer’s side. “What happened to you!?”

But Black Shadow waved Gavner off, still not taking his eyes off the duel. The vampire looked more intently at the two fighters, and noticed the pirate captain battling an all too familiar merchant.

"That is not..." Gavner began, realizing the grave mistake that Captain Jack Callahan had made by taking on the enemy ship’s captain.

“Captain challenged the Black Sails Armada to a dual.” The first lieutenant said. “The winner takes both ships.”

“The fool!” Gavner exclaimed. “He will get us all killed!”

“General,” the lieutenant replied, “With all due respect, stand the fuck down. Captain knows what he is doing.”

“Even if he wins, does he truly expect the pirates to honor the duel?” Gavner hissed at the lieutenant. “I say, to arms!”

“Captain was very adamant,” The first lieutenant said. “He said he had to do this, and to not interfere under any circumstances. Something about how this battle was different than the others, and he needed to tie up loose ends.”

Gavner without a doubt had faith in his captain, but the pirate captain lacked honor. Both men boasted massive, muscular figures and Captain Callahan was clearly the superior fighter in technique, but the pirate still boasted more muscle, and more savagery. He held his ground, and tried to sneak in a dirty blow every now and then.

And yet, as the duel raged on with the brightening morning sky in the background, Jack seemed to prevail over his stronger adversary in the coming dawn. The merchant captain had found his second wind as he forced his opponent onto the defense. Callahan’s upper slashes followed by jabs with his free hand, round kicks, and horizontal slashes almost took the enemy by surprise several times.

“You haven’t seen the last of me, Howland Pyle!” Callahan shouted at the pirate as the merchant nearly ran Pyle through. The pirate could not keep up with the newfound energy and intensity that his foe had gained. “You shall die before the sun rises!”

By this time Gavner remembered Vir; the vampire prince was nowhere to be found. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that the merchant ship, now over 100 feet away, and half of it was underwater. Straining his eyes in the dawning sky, Gavner's heart sank as he spotted the vampire prince on the quarterdeck, watching the battle. A sense of disappointment and loss came upon Gavner as he realized that Vir had never intended to join them. Vir Fortis, the vampire legend of Clan Durus, planned on passing from the world in a watery grave out at sea on a sinking merchant ship.

Shifting uneasily, the pirate crew began to cheer on their captain as they noticed Callahan prevailing. Some shouted words of encouragement as others simply yelled phrases like "Aye Cap'n!" and "Yaar!" Pyle grew angrier with every blocked attack- more infuriated with each of Callahan’s blows. The merchant captain nicked Pyle’s shoulder, sending a small trickle of blood down his arm. Gavner leaned forward, and his pupils dilated as he licked his lips in sight of his enemy’s blood.

Desperate to get out of defensive mode Captain Pyle threw out all honor of a just duel and resorted to dirty shots. As Callahan thrust his blade at the pirate captain’s chest, Pyle feigned forward and closed his arm and torso against the hilt of Callahan’s sword, pretending that he had been run through. Callahan hesitated, about to give mercy to his opponent.

“Do you concede?” Callahan asked his enemy in a strong, just voice.

“Concede yourself!” Pyle shouted as he jerked the sword out of his enemy’s hand and kicked Callahan in the stomach. Callahan staggered backwards, defenseless, and Captain Pyle advanced forward, driving his foot into the crotch of the Merchant Captain. Captain Callahan fell to the ground. Letting his rage consume him, Captain Pyle rained down blows upon his foe. Kick to the stomach, kick to the kidneys, vertical stomp to the face, heel to the neck. Panting from exhaustion, Pyle grunted as he kicked Callahan, over and over again. Merchant sailors cried out in protest.

“Honor me’ ass!”

“No low blows!”

“Fuck off Pirate!”

“Keep that up n’ Ima come give yeh my steel up yer ass!”

“Get up Cap’n! Please!”

“You can do it Sir!”

"Enough!” Captain Pyle roared. As the Merchant Captain lay on the deck, bleeding from his nose and mouth and sporting several broken bones. “This has gone far enough!"

Captain Pyle bent over and hissed in Callahan’s face, “You were never more than a maggot! The Black Sails Armada is now the might of the seas. A feat we could not achieve when you sailed among our ranks!”

Captain Callahan weakly turned his face to the pirate captain. “Fuck off,” he said, blood spraying from his lips. “Your sister was the best damned bitch I’ve ever seen in bed.”

Roaring in rage, Captain Pyle stood up and brought down the final blow on the merchant captain.

But events do not always yield the expected results...

---

As Pyle brought down his sword, Vir Fortis landed beneath the strike. Being an ancient vampire with prince blood, Vir's abilities and attributes had developed far beyond those of Gavner's. The vampire prince probably had over ten times the strength and speed of Gavner; his nails were as strong as black diamond, and his endurance was superior to that of any living thing. Gavner feared what Vir could have done if he felt healthy. Catching the sword on the back of his nails, the vampire prince deflected the blow and glared at the pirate captain.

"Under my rule you would have been put to death for your deceit long ago, and so shall it be done now." The vampire said nobly. "I, Vir Fortis, War Prince of Clan Durus, charge you with dishonorable conduct in a significant duel. I hereby sentence you to death where you stand."

Never before had Gavner seen a vampire prince give a death sentence on the field. Simply Vir’s posture intimidated all who looked upon him; his eyes blazed green with rage, yet his face held calm and cool. Wind blew through his long grey hair, slicking it back, and he looked like death’s messenger himself. Friend or foe would unanimously consent that this being of nobility held supreme authority to all.

"Burn in hell from whence you came, spawn of Satan. Tell your father that he cannot have me just yet." Pyle said.

The arrogant captain thrust his blade as if to smite the vampire prince- Captain Pyle’s last ever assault. With the prince possessing over eighteen times the speed of any human, the sword transferred from Pyle's hand to Vir's in a blur. Pushing the captain in the chest, Pyle stumbled backwards into Vir who had already moved behind the pirate to intercept him. Like a cat toying with a mouse, the vampire prince pushed Pyle from behind stumbling him forward again. This time appearing several feet in front of the captain, whereupon Vir Fortis ended the fight. Utilizing nearly all of the supernatural strength and speed available to him in his weakened state, Vir kicked the enemy in the chest with all of his might.

No eye caught any sight of motion whatsoever. One moment the captain was at the mercy of the vampire prince's foot, and the next he appeared slammed against the mast of the ship. He had not flown through the air, nor could anybody detect him as a blur. He simply transferred from one place one second before their very eyes. Extending his arm in the same manner, the sword vanished from Vir’s hand and appeared in Pyle’s breast, buried so deep that only the hilt was visible. The sound of a thousand cannons rang, out deafening everyone on deck- a sonic boom. Everyone stood back in awe. Vir turned to the pirate crew and roared in rage.

Some crew members dove overboard as others crumbled onto the ground in utter terror. Crew members from the merchant ship gave a mighty cheer before frantically tying up the cowering pirates who had remained. Vir Fortis smiled, and collapsed onto the deck.

"Your Majesty!" Gavner shouted as he leapt from the quarterdeck and ran to the Prince. Gavner held the prince in his arms, looking into the face of his fallen kin. "Sir, you did it!"

"No, we did it, my boy." Vir said weakly. "It seems I have exceeded the amount of energy I had to give."

"No," Gavner said frantically, "We can fix this. You are going to be okay. Please, your majesty, tell me you are going to be okay!"

"We all have a certain amount of time in this world, Gavner." Vir said, "I expected to pass on the voyage to Dhethain. An unknown meaningless passing, but you gave me one last battle to be known by. thank you for that."

"Vir..." Gavner said softly, a twisting pain forming in his chest. "You cannot leave."

"But I must, my dear child." The dying vampire said, his breaths growing shallow. "A vampire who holds onto things of the past will never be strong for the future. Celebrate the past in remembrance, but never mourn, for the past cannot be changed. Learn from the past and push forward and you, my boy, will become one of the greatest vampires of all time. I’ll see you in paradise."

So said Vir with a twinkle in his eye, and passed from the world of Althanas nobly; a fitting death for a prince.