Vayne the Eldar: Blood Awakening

Chapter 2-Ave Maria

Iris woke up slowly, her body stiff and sore. The hard root sticking into her back had done nothing good for her sleep. She had always been slow to rise, only waking up when the sun was shining through her curtains, and that didn't change now that sunlight was trickling in through the canopy. She stood up slowly and stretched, letting out a caged yawn. Suddenly, the memories of the past few weeks hit her like a sledgehammer, and she dropped to her knees, letting out choked sobs. The mental pain she had gone through was close to unbearable, but somehow, she was still sane. After a few minutes of crying, she wiped her face with her arm and looked around. She was in a small clearing, dark trees surrounding her. On closer inspection, she realised that she had been sleeping on a bundle of cloth.

Her eyes were still adjusting to the dark, but she felt uncomfortable just standing around without knowing where she was. She took a few steps forward, stumbling a bit, then she stopped. There was someone sitting with his back against a free facing her. He was taking short ragged breaths, but if he had seen her, he made no move. She walked closer and paused, realising who exactly was sleeping in the clearing with her. His dirty and unclean grey hair fell to his shoulders. He was a little handsome, but he looked like he was in pain. He looked tall, maybe 6 ft. He wore a weathered cloak over a dirty red shirt. His trousers were torn and dirty as well. Even through his ragged attire, Iris could tell he was reasonably muscular. The one thing that caught her eye though, was the shining silver pendant hanging off his neck. It was two Chinese dragons coiled around a sword. Their eyes were rubies and the sword looked like those extinct longswords she had read about when she was growing up.

Iris moved in to wake him, but then she stopped herself. She remembered how Nasri had turned to ashes when he spoke to her. She was scared out of her mind, but he had saved her. She wanted to know who he was, and what he had been doing out in the wastes.

"Hey," she said softly, shaking his shoulder. He opened his eyes and snarled before leaning in and sweeping his arm across her face, barely missing her. There was a rush of wind and then a series of loud crashes. Still in shock, Iris turned to her left and saw that four trees had been uprooted. She got up as quickly as she could and backed up, never taking her eyes off the man. She tripped over a rock and fell onto her back. The man was breathing heavily and clutching his head. Smoke was coming out of his eyes in angry black plumes. He looked up at her then leaned against the tree again. Soon, the smoke subsided and his red eyes turned back to grey. He took one final shaky breath, and stopped moving. After a few tense minutes where no one moved, Iris gulped. The man turned towards her and stared at her for a moment before walking her way and crouching before her. At this point, Iris was shaking furiously, scared witless.

The man reached his hand out and Iris shut her eyes tight, expecting the worst. Instead, she felt a tough hand caress her cheek gently. She opened her eyes and saw that the he was looking at her inquisitively. She took a shaky breath, trying to think about what to do.

"What's your name?" She asked trying her best to remain calm. He scrunched up his face as if she had said something wrong.

"Vayne?" He asked her, in a voice that hadn't been used in a long time. She nodded even though she knew nothing about this Vayne. He thought about it for a while, then got up and walked to his side of the clearing. He slung a small backpack over his shoulder then looked at Iris.

"Let's go," he said quietly, then began to walk off.

Iris sat down in shock, unsure of what to do until a harsh cry behind her made her leap to her feet and follow Vayne. A thousand questions were writhing in her head. She couldn't believe what she had seen earlier. She might have imagined it, but it seemed so real. There's no way he was normal. When she had finally caught up to him, she kept her thoughts to herself until she couldn't stand it.

"Sooo, what are you doing here?" She asked as politely as she could. He glanced at her and shrugged. She tried a different question. "So...Vayne. That's a strange name. Where are you from?" His response was silence. "The strong silent type. I get you." She remained quiet for some time because she had a feeling he was getting annoyed.

"I don't know," he finally said quietly after a few minutes of silence. "I can't remember anything important. If I did..."

He paused, then changed direction, heading East. She had no idea where he was going, but she didn't want to ask.

"What about you?" He finally asked?

She was taken aback, but began to explain her story. "I grew up in a normal house in Taé Haven. My parents were factory workers, and they gave me all they could manage. I tried my best to do whatever I could, but I always wanted more than whatever they provided. So, I joined a gang."

"A gang?" He asked. She paused momentarily. It's like he had never lived with other humans before. He knew so little about our cultures and lives.

"Gangs are groups of people," Iris tried to explain. He nodded, staying silent for a while.

"And did that make you happy?" he asked simply. She frowned. Being in a gang meant she was always provided for. Always taken care of. Always respected. She had everything.

"I thought it did," she finally whispered, the terrible memories flooding into her head again. They walked on in silence until they found a clearing where they could spend the night. Vayne left her there before sunset, and was away for nearly thirty minutes. During that time, she seriously weighed out her options. She was following a clearly mentally unstable person who turned into a monster in the morning. She could run away. She should have, but something in her gut told her she wouldn't survive a day. And she knew that if there was any chance for revenge, she wanted it.

When Vayne came back, he had a deer slung over his shoulder and firewood tucked under his arm. She examined the deer and saw it looked nothing like the ones she had once read about. Its antlers looked like they were made for killing. They were sharp and menacing. Its teeth were canine and weren't meant to be on a herbivore.

"What is that?" Iris asked as he set it down and began to build a fire. "And how did you kill it."

"I don't know what it is," he replied. "And I don't think it has a name. But you might as well call it food. As to how I killed it..." He motioned to his side. Strapped to his belt was a sheath with a broken longsword in it. Iris didn't ask how he got it. He wouldn't know. After he had skinned the...food, he put it over the fire and walked to the edges of the clearing. Iris could see him drawing something on the trees as he moved around the edge of the clearing.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked after she couldn't stand not knowing anymore.

"This will keep us safe during the night," he replied.

"How do you know?"

He stopped for a while, trying to find the right answer. "I don't know how...and it scares me." When he was done he came back and we ate the surprisingly good meat in silence. Then he took his backpack and sat by the edge of the clearing silently. I did the same, using the cloth she had slept on the first time. As she drifted off to sleep, she noticed pairs of eyes watching them in the dark.

She woke up quickly, fear gripping her heart. Sometimes a low growl or snarl would snake its way into the clearing and she would shudder. She kept looking at Vayne, whose grey eyes glowed softly in the dark and gave her some sort of comfort. In the end, she drifted off into a sleep filled with nightmares.

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