A Beautiful Sacrifice

Chapter Twenty Eight

It was the clashing of claws that ripped through the night

As the angry snapping of jaws was a vicious sight

The sounds of a growl and the sounds of a hiss

As one did prowl while he gave her one last kiss

Battle is noise and terror is silence

The key to skill is delicate poise but victory rests on terrible violence

“Cousin.” Joseph greeted Perttu.

“Brother.” Perttu greeted Joseph.

                A clap of arms, a hug between men of status was a sign of relief as Joseph made it to their home.

“Have we a chance, brother?” Joseph asked.

“Now we have more soldiers, yes. But I’m still worried.”

“I can feel myself getting weaker.”

                They all could. Every one of them stood by the door on guard, unmoving as they listened outside. “The Hounds are near?” Perttu asked.

“Yes. They’ll be here in minutes.”

                A vampire lives a long time. They have a knowledge that far exceeds that of a human and they have power that they must spend years in training, and honing their abilities, in order to use it. But they are also animals. As a human is an animal, so is a vampire. Only they are like a chameleons. In the human world they appear human. In the sorcerer’s world they have some ability to seem like one of them as well. In their own world they are so very different.

                They are not beautiful. They do not look human. They look deadly and they look dangerous. Ugly in many a case. Perttu shrugged off his shirt and kicked off his shoes. His fingernails elongated to long, pointed, claw like weapons and his toenails grew, shredding the thin material of his socks so he didn’t even need to bend down and take them off by hand. His eyes turned red, the very whites changing into a blood like colour that to any who did not known what he looked like it wold seem as if the very blood vessels had burst. But they hadn’t. He was going into fighting mode and he called the change as easily as flexing a muscle.

                His lips parted and he let his fangs grow, they pierced his bottom lip and he let the blood flow down his face just for effect, as every vampire around him did. He touched his fingertips to the blood and coated them letting the blood dry so his hands were stained. He threw back his head and flicked his hair; his hair snapped free and glittered in the dull candle lit room he stood in. Blades. His very hair was a lethal weapon. But the best of yet:

                A dog fish can only be stroked one way. One way and you touched a slimy fish. The other way and it rips your skin to shreds. He was like that. The hairs on his body lengthened, stood to attention and he smirked as he looked down at the dark mass of hair on his body. Like small, pointed needles they coated his entire body. Should the enemy touch him it would hurt. And hounds had a tendency to jump on their prey. He would be unhurt while they would howl in agony at the piercing from his own hair.

                He wasn’t beautiful like that. He looked unkempt, untidy and that was from far away. Close up he looked insane. Ugly was his word. He never wanted Lily to see him look that this. It was with disgust he viewed himself in his fight mode.