Vendetta's Rise (The Dragon Realms Saga: Book 1)

Chapter 19

Elucard admired the fine craftsmanship of his new blade as he carefully inspected it and weighed its balance. The sword glinted in the dim candlelight of his master's quarters. Elucard grinned excitedly. "Master, I'm honored by this gift, but why?"

Legion lowered his eyes, unsure how to give Elucard this task. "I give you this sword with the hope that you will swiftly and fully devote yourself to Alanna. The blood you will soon spill will be heavy and the blade you formerly carried was brittle and chipped." Legion put one hand on the new blade and another on his pupil's shoulder. "Elucard, I have one last task for you. A set of marks is all that stand between you remaining my underling or becoming my equal."

Elucard looked back at his mentor, with a puzzled look. "Your equal?" How could he ever be equal to the man he had looked up to and revered for so long? His expression straightened as he contemplated the prospect before him. "I won't let you down, Master."

Legion's mouth formed a tight line. "I pray to Alanna that you won't."

***

Cold rain besieged the muddy earth, filling the air with the harsh sound of pattering in an otherwise ominously silent night. Nestled within a cave a day's journey from the Black Rabbit compound, shone the soft glow of a campfire. Myler, Geven, and Izian huddled around its warmth. Bound by their mutual need for protection along with a healthy helping of foolhardiness, the three fled the Black Rabbit compound soon after the defection of the High Blade.

Myler let out a sneeze, "Aaa-choo! Figures that the second time we'd run away from the Rabbits, it would rain again!"

Geven stirred the embers with a stick, "On the bright side, it's much harder for them to track us in the rain. Haven't you picked up anything from your training?"

"I learned stuff..." Myler trailed off, trying—and failing—to think of some witty retort as he wiped the mucus from his face with the back of his sleeve.

"Enough you two! We need to move out if we're going to reach Lost Dawns in the next couple days" Izian wrapped up his rations and went to smother the fire with his cloak.

Myler dazedly looked at the long travel ahead of him. Muddy, rainy, cold. "Aw, Izian, can't we leave at sunrise? At least wait 'til this rain has passed. Alanna's angels will reap us in an hour if we take off in this weather."

Izian pursed his lips to snap back, but a new voice broke through the cave.

"Sooner."

The shadowy figure of Elucard stood at the mouth of the cave, his blade gleamed in the moonlight. The three companions jumped and shuffled back, completely taken off-guard. Elucard stepped closer, entering the cave.

Myler cautiously inspected the stranger, "E-Elucard, is that you?"

Geven sighed, "It is Elucard! Relax guys. He's come to join us." Geven walked over to extend his hand, "Sheath the weapon, Elucard, you're among friends."

Elucard glared at the outstretched hand. A look of anger and disgust scried across his face. "You think we are still friends?"

Izian slowly reached for his blade. A sheen of metal flashed from Elucard's hand as a dagger struck Izian. Izian grimaced in pain as he grasped his wounded hand. He grunted through clenched teeth, "Elucard, the clan has been brainwashing us! Snap out of it. We are your friends! We're from the same village! Who are you going to trust? Us? Or a group of assassins that have been teaching you to murder?"

Elucard sneered and lowered his head, examining the blade his master had given to him. Raising the sword, he pointed it at the three frightened boys. "You never understood the work we did. The divine privilege that we undertook. You are all weeds in this world, choking the life out of those who strive." Elucard walked forward, not batting an eye, and with no tears to be shed. "Those who are striving to make this world a better place. There are those who build, there are those who burn..."

Myler's eyes widened with fear, "Elucard, please..."

"Finally, there are those who do nothing. They are a waste. They sow nothing and they reap nothing. They only feed and grow fat from all the work that everyone else does! You three, have grown fat!"

"The Black Rabbits have poisoned your mind, Elucard!" Myler pleaded for Elucard to see reason. He was terrified, as were the rest of them.

"No, they have enlightened me." said Elucard.

Geven took out his blade, "You can't fight all three of us."

Elucard shook his head and stared at them coldly and without emotion, "I can, and I will."

***

The rain was a soft drizzle the next morning. Elucard walked slowly back to the compound in a shallow trance. His eyes were fixated on the sky, but his mind lingered on the past night. Violent, fractured images collided with his thoughts. All were of the massacre that he brought down upon his friends.

His friends. He couldn't say that anymore. They ceased to be his friends when they abandoned his family. They needed to be dealt with. Only he was the to one that could deliver the proper punishment. Only he could set things on the correct path once more; to bring justice to the crime of betraying the clan.

The cries of Myler were like a siren in his mind. His clothes were wet and sticky with blood and the taste of iron filled his mouth. He couldn't escape the images of milky-eyed stares coming from the lifeless bodies of his...enemies. This was the true foray into a new chapter of his life. He was no longer "Elucard, the boy who wanted to be a Black Rabbit". No, now he was "Elucard, the man that became a Black Rabbit".

There was no turning back now.

***

Elucard kneeled before his master and High Blade. Ridge and his blade brother, Baines, stood on either side of Legion. "It is done." Elucard hefted a large duffle bag from his back that Geven had been carrying supplies in.

Baines crossed his arms. "They were your closest friends. It will take more than a supply bag to prove that you have completed your task."

Elucard shot a glance at Baines' unconvinced eyes and moved to open the bag. He placed three swords on the grass. His hands had shaken since the night before. Not from chill or trauma, but from adrenaline.

"I am still not convinced," Baines said with more than a hint of disappointment and annoyance in his voice.

Elucard rummaged further into the bag and began to pull out the severed heads of his former companions one by one. Ridge grabbed the tuft of Izian's black hair, looking at the pallid, grim face of the dead boy.

"What did you feel, Elucard?" Legion asked in a very solemn tone.

"Satisfaction," Elucard whispered without a hint of emotion.

Ridge grinned wickedly, patting Legion on the shoulder. "You made a cold hearted bastard, Legion."

Legion shook his head, "No, I made a Rabbit."