What I Felt Was Right (A Kurda Smahlt Story) Chap. 1

What I Felt Was Right (A Kurda Smahlt Story) Chap. 4

AHH I have my first fan! You have no idea how happy this makes me ^^ But anyways, once again, Darren Shan owns everything except for Lia. Enjoy, ok? And leave me comment so I know how I'm doing so far.

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Apparently, I have not given these damn vampires enough credit. 

"God dammit!" I swear as I once again twist my ankle. You'd think that all my years of training would have prepared me for hiking, and I have gone hiking a lot. But there are so many rocks in this region, and it's getting too cold to function correctly! Gavner laughs. Again. "Seriously Lia, can you walk two feet without tripping over something or other? We're barely halfway up." I growl at him. "Shut the hell up." He laughs. "You may have one of the dirtiest mouths I've ever heard." I scowl and stick my tongue out at him. We've only been on the trail together for a couple weeks, but he's already a really good friend. At least, a good enough friend that I can swear at him and he won't get mad at me.

Gavner puts a hand over his eyes, checking the horizon behind us. "I'd say we've got about an hour before the sun comes up. I'm going to look for one of the caves around here that we use as rest points. So in the meantime, it's your turn." The whole trip, we've been exchanging information from our worlds to each other. Some tidbit from mine for a tidbit from his.

So far, I'd learned that a vampire's sense of pride and stubbornness is unmatched. They never back down from a fight, even when it's obvious that they'll lose. A true vampire puts the clan above everything else. They don't abandon their own, and they stick together. I was surprised at all this, it's so much more noble than how most humans behave. They even have a religion, or at least they have gods. They believe that when a vampire sacrifices himself for the good of the clan, they are favored highly. 

Oh, and never EVER challenge a drunk vampire. Because they have higher metabolisms, it takes them awhile to get drunk. But when they do, they get crazy. Like, wrestle-a-bear-for-FUN crazy.

Gavner mainly asked about trivial human things, like beaches and airplanes (as Gavner put it, "If the gods had meant for vampires to fly, they would have given us wings"). He also wanted to know why humans wouldn't wrestle bears, but we WOULD knock each other's brains out on a sports field over a ball or something. Personally I had a fondness of fencing and archery, so I couldn't really answer him there.....I said he should find a human guy and ask him. Oh, and that's another thing about vampires: hand to hand combat only. No guns, no crossbows, no cannons, no grenades. Throwing knives are ok, spears are pushing it, but nothing else! Swords work. 

I think for a moment. "Ok. Which is higher up in your system, male or female?" 

"That is so sexist."

"Please. This coming from the guy who offered to carry me up the mountain because 'your stamina as a whole isn't as good." 

"I could have meant the whole human-vampire thing." I just glare at him and he caves. "Fine, fine. The males are more dominant." 

"What?! Do you only accept guys or something?!" He snorts again as I trip on another rock, but because I'm glaring up at the mountain. I mean, seriously, are we living in the stone ages here? "No, no, Lia. The life just doesn't appeal to many women. Our lives are rough and you have to be strong. We don't believe in coddling. Women do get looked down on, since a lot of our forces were blooded before women got rights. Plus we can't have kids, so most women stay human for that." 

I trip again, but this time I'm staring at Gavner in shock. "You can't have kids?" He shakes his head. "Our women can't bear them, and our men can't sire them. It's got something to do with our genetics, or something. It's like how we can't be photographed." I stay at him in....horror? Sympathy? I don't even know how to feel! I'm not driven to have a family by any means, but I do want one someday. Not having that option at all would be so.....empty.

I remain silent after that as we crawl into a resting point. Gavner just has to lay his head on his pack and he's out for the count. I smile a little and lay back on my own pack and pull a blanket over me. Just as I begin to drift off loud snores erupt from my 'partner's' half of the cave. I look at him incredulously. Seriously?! This is the third week of our trip and this has happened every single night! I groan, pulling the blanket over my head. 

After two hours, I wander out and climb a tree. I mean, how am I supposed to sleep with a congested bear? I curl up in a branch that's curved like a natural hammock, about 6 feet off the ground. I cover my eyes with my sweatshirt and drift off to the sound of wolves howling in the distance.