The smell was the thing that had drawn is to them. Their scent would have been hard to not smell, even from miles away. It was funny how the scent of a Dwarf can be smelt even after they have left the area hours later. They smelt horrible, like they had not had a proper bath in days but we were tired and had not eaten in days, which meant that we were also desperate. There were many dwarfs and few of us, good, that meant that there would be plenty of food to go around for all of us. I did not remember the last time that I had eaten dwarf and I did not want to think about it any more than I actually wanted to eat the poor fools, but what had to be done had to be done. After all, it is our nature to hunt and kill anywhere life we can find, we are vampires.
I did not care how much effort it would take to bring down a whole party of dwarfs or how many of them would scream – I needed blood and I needed it soon, or I would go insane. When we got in close enough I smiled as I took in the scent of their blood, the way their hearts were beating at a rapid pace, they were all circled around – they knew we were coming. I loved the idea of having a fight, though Father had always said to never play with my food, I loved the rush that the kill after a good fight brought to me. I opened my mouth and allowed my hands to retract from their place in my mouth and turned to Isembard, my brother, and nodded as he did the same to the person on the other side of him.
I was the leader of our small party of vampires, the teens of the city, that always went outside of the city walls for too long and did too many bad things. I was the one that came up with the whole idea of running away from the city and going into the world that was around us, knowing all of the amazing things that it had to show is; all of the different types of food that there was around that the people inside of our city did not allow us to have, the beautiful plants and flowers and trees, the animals that fly above our heads that the tiny animals that scurried around our feet, and the monsters who hunted us down as if we were not people, the elves. Though elves were the most amazing thing on the planet to eat, they were also the only thing that knew of us and tried to kill us.
The party and I have met many over the years that have seemed peaceful, though we are called the teenagers we are really almost one-hundred years old. We have met the good and the bad through the years, watched from the trees as all war broke out among different peoples and feasted on those were were not yet fully dead when the battles broke, we healed some that our hearts grew too close to, and we helped with the death of many. That's how I had met he and his family, a whole group of wandering Dwarfs, when their land, his kingdom, had been stolen from him. I healed some of the dying, I spoke to him through most of the night about his past and about some of the things that went bump in the night that he did not know of, it was the first night that I had went out on my own and the last.
" Rolly, do you really want to take on that many of them all at one time. They know that we are here and they will be ready to attack us!" Balëgrist said from the other side of me, his eyes were blackening and his face seemed like it had shrunken into his features.
" More than ever before. We all need to eat before we go back home or they will never allow us to come back to them! Now common, we have to get this over with." I sighed as I peaked my head around the trees and could smell the smoke of a recently put out fire.
" Speaking of that, you know that our families will be looking for us soon after full nightfall." Balëgrist stated with fear in his voice. " Besides, I have a day till I am supposed to find her and I want to smell clean for it."
The clock. It was a horrible thing that was implanted into every vampire or vampire baby when they were born. It told your the exact moment that you would meet your one – your soul mate. Every vampire had a soul mate and this was the thing that would tell you what day, hour, minute, down to the second that you would meet them at. I never believed the thing though, I had seen plenty who were with their soul mates and they hated each to the to the point where they wanted to stake each other. Mine had changed many times before, mostly because my one had nearly died three times since I had mine implanted and each time I could feel the way that they were dying and it killed me inside, whoever was a fool of a vampire enough to nearly get killed three times would never be able to make it in the lifestyle that I lead and would be dead within a week of meeting me. I usually never looked down at the stupid thing anymore. When I was a kid I was thrilled because it said that I would meet my soul mate when I was six, when I was four it changed to the date that had not fully changed since then. I never knew why it had changed so dramatically and I really did not care about it either, love was for the weak meaning that along with it so was having a soul mate. But in that moment, hearing that I would most likely lost one of my closest friends to his soul mate made me look down at my and scoff, it read that I only had a half an hour till I would meet mine. Deep from within I smiled as I looked down at it and felt my twinge of hope flutter through my body, but hungry followed it quickly.
" Well then we better get this over with and get back to the city before they find us and god forbid either of us miss out first meeting with our loves. !" I hissed as I held up my wrist to show Balëgrist my time. I could hear the dwarfs speaking lightly. " This is going to be so fucking good. I go in first and then you all will follow, I get first bite." I smiled as I lunged from the trees, jumped as high as I could into the air and hit right in the middle of the circle, the sound my feet made was the only thing that made the dwarfs turn around to see me waving at them.
" Hello boys." I smiled as I allowed my fangs to show and was almost hit with a sword as it came barreling down at me. " Well, that's not very nice!" I said as I dodged it by moving my hand and wrapping it around the dwarfs large hand as he looked me dead in the eyes.
" Rolly?" The dwarf spoke back to me and I looked at him closer in the eyes and instantly dropped his hand.
" Thor-" I was cut off by the blow to the back of the head of what felt like a rock.
" Enough!" Thorin stated as he gave a glare to whatever was behind me.
" That was not very nice." I hissed as I turned back to whoever it was and could see a younger dwarf starring at me in horror. " Is he one of your, Thorin?"
" Sadly." Thorin sighed as I could hear him placing his sword back into his holder. I allowed my fangs to go back to their normal spot as I looked towards the dwarf who had grown so old." What brings you this far out of the city, Rolly Zeazal?"
" What brings you this far away from your home, Thorin Oakenshield?" I smiled as I turned to face him once again.
" Rolly?" Another voice called and I circled around and nearly jumped in my place to see another dwarf that I knew.
" Balin!" I called out as he nodded and smiled. " What is this, a family reunion?" My smile instantly dropped as I caught onto what this way. " No, no! You are not planning to go to the – oh you are! Thorin are you insane?!" I whipped back to him but another thought broke my train of though- instinct took over.
There was a heard of deer flocking from a fire two miles in the opposite direction of where we were, they were getting further away. Their blood was flowing through the veins and it nearly called to me, sang its beautiful song to me as they ran, and I could feel my fangs retract once again as I closed my eyes. I could smell them, could feel every beat of their hearts as they ran. I knew that it would not be long before I would be chasing after them as I could hear the others from my party start to take off in the direction of the dwarfs. They knew that it would not be wise of them to ever strike someone before I had, they learned that lesson a long time ago. But then I heard something else, something that caught my attention, the voice of two younger dwarfs screaming through the fire too far away for the others to hear and it instantly made my eyes fly open.
" Is your whole party here?" I questioned as Thorin looked around. " Thorin this is no time to hide anything from me! Is your whole party here or not?!" I screamed at him as he looked stunned.
" Where are Kili and Fili!" A voice asked from behind.
" They are with the horses." Thorin hissed as the looked towards the way my people were going.
" Fuck!" I yelled as I looked looked from Thorin to the rest of the faces in the group. " I do not know how long I will be, but I will bring back your Kili and Fili if I can. There is a fire three miles south from here and a heard of deer running from it. My people are running that way and if they find them before the deer, their instincts will not be as sharp as mine and they will rip them to sherds before having a second to think about what they have done." I yelled before taking off into the woods, my motions too quick for them to follow as I could hear their footsteps following. " They are going to make me late for meeting my soul mate, bastards." I laughed as I ran quicker into the woods.
I thought that I could hear the footsteps of my friends ahead of me, I was getting close because I could hear the dwarfs getting closer and closer and I knew that I would have to jump to make it there quicker. I looked above me to find that there were plenty of branches that could lead me faster towards the boys than I would be able to make it on ground. I flung myself into the trees and started to walk around in the trees like it was my second nature and with a sigh of relief I could see my friends as I passed by them and jumped to the ground and nearly landed on the two dwarfs below me. I did not have time to look at them, did not have time to even think before the party had surrounded me and the two, I wrapped my arms behind me and hoarded them in as if I was a lion protecting my cubs. Glaring at my friends, my clan members, I could see the monster that had been set free within them all. Eight monsters against one with two confused dwarfs was something to be very, very afraid of.
" Leave. Now. They are not to be harmed under my orders." I said through my teeth as I could hear the sword being pulled out of the blonde dwarfs behind me. " The deer, go. Now." I hissed as I could hear something that scared me coming from behind.
" Did you call for the elders?" Burznedlorwen questioned as she looked around the three of us.
" No. . . I have not had the time to think about calling the elders!" I hissed as I looked from behind and could hear the steps that could only be of vampires running towards us.
" Those are not the elders." Isembard muttered to himself as my heart dropped.
" Tathar." I said as I pulled the dwarfs behind me and instantly my clan made a circle around them that they did not approve of.
Tathar Elanessë had been my second in command over all of the clan years ago. We had a large group that would go out before any of the elders go up and would wonder around the woods, killing what we found and destroying any small huts that we found along the way. We were in our adolescence phase where killing, fucking, and hunger were the only thing that we could think about. It's when our fangs grew out and we wanted to use them for everything that they were supposed to be for. Tathar and I had been very sexually involved with one another, some would even go out on a limb and say that we were dating, though we were all sex and no romantics. But after a long time, it seemed like I could not stand to kill another living being when it was not 100% necessary and it almost hurt to kill them for the fun of it anymore. I told this to the group one night and half agreed with me and the other did not - with Tathar being on that side of it. He screamed at me through most of the night until it lead to us tearing our clothes off and the next morning I had moved the half of the group and followed me to the other side of the city where we would go off on our own. Since then we have been in battles each time that we met one another, though none would die from these battles because killing another vampires was the most upheld law in our peoples culture.
" Good golly, Miss Rolly." Tathar said as he emerged from the darkness and smiled as he did so.
" Not like I hear that enough times." I rolled my eyes as I crossed my eyes and starred at him.
" Rolly?" One of the dwarfs said from behind.
" Quite." I hushed at them as I looked towards the vampire who smiled.
" Since when do you care about protecting those things? It seemed like you all would be dying for a good kill right about now." Tathar stated as he leaned on a tree.
" Killing, yes, but a dwarf? No." I hissed as I took out my necklace of fangs from under my shirt and smiled to him. " How are your people doing since the last fight we had, Tathar? Has it been hard for them to eat?"
" Very, but I think some good old dwarf blood would do them so well back home." Tathar stated as he allowed his fangs to shine through the night. " Hows that wrist clock doing, Rollywaters? It's getting to be just about that time."
" You remembered?" I questioned with a smile coming to my face.
" I remember everything about you." Tathar said as he tapped on the tree and a few vampires came from it. " Like how you used to love the taste of blood after a battle, so why don't I just do the honor of cracking these pretty little boys skulls opened and then savor as I watch your monster side take over and savor in the fact that I will know that I beat you in the one way that you will forever regret?"
" No." I hissed as I wrapped my hand around my belt to feel the wooden stake resting there.
" Oh, you would not use that. I mean kill your own, your old clan, over dwarfs?" Tathar laughed as he looked down to my hand. " I would be surprised, Rolly, really I would be."
" Then leave right now because if you come near these two you will regret it." I advised as I looked around at how few he really had with him, all the ones that had not been de-fanged the last time that we had met.
" I think that this would rather be fun!" Tathar nodded and as he did so his boys went on the attack coming from every direction from the trees above.
Tathar had been fooling us when he only brought down so few to begin with. I flung myself at anyone who made it between the others and the dwarfs that were behind me. I did not stake them though, it was still a moral code that I would not break unless necessary. As I turned though something happened that I could not believe or expect, the dinging of the clock on my wrist went off as my time was over and as I looked to the dwarf with the bow all I could do was stare as he starred back at me and my wrist in question. I did not know his name, but it felt like in that moment and that moment I did not care about anything in the world because I knew everything about his life within seconds. I could feel my mouth hang open with a smile coming from the comers as I lowered my stake and he lowered his bow. We started to move for one another like I had seen so many vampires do when their time was up before as if our bodies knew what they were doing without even thinking about what was happening around them. But just before we were able to touch, another vampire knocked the dwarf to the ground and instantly sunk his teeth into the dwarf.
" Kili!" The other screamed out for his brother and I looked from him to the dwarf as another instinct took over and I jumped on the vampire and jammed the stake right into the vampires heart, his body instantly splattering into blood between Kili and myself.
" Rolly!" Burznedlorwen screamed as it seemed like the whole battled ended with that. " What have you done?"
" You'll pay for what you've done. I guarantee I'll watch you burn in the sun." One of Tathar's men yelled as he went flying behind me and went into the woods.
" No! Tathar!" I screamed as I looked to him and could see the panic on his face as well.
" Ereinion!" Tathar screamed after his person as he looked from me to the ground and we could all hear what was coming.
" No." Isembard muttered as he ran to me and started to try and clean the evidence off of my body.
" Brother, take the dwarfs back to Thorin's company. Go, now, protect them. All of you!" I declared as I looked around. " I do not need you to see this."
" Rolly. . ." Burznedlorwen said as she moved over to me quickly and placed her hands onto my face. " You found your soul mate and was only protecting him. They will understand." She was more trying to convince herself than me.
" Go now. It's an order." I stated as I could hear them getting closer. " Now!" I screamed as they grabbed the arms of the dwarfs and started to lead them away.
" What are they going to do to her?" Fili, the brother of the one that I. . . I was soul mates with questioned as he looked back.
" They will kill her." Balëgrist mournfully stated.
" No!" Kili roared as he turned and tried to run back to me but was pulled away by one of my followers.
" Rollywaters. . ." Tathar called to me as he moved in closer and I could see the hurt in his eyes.
" You go as well. They may try and kill you as well if they find you. Tathar, leave." I smiled as he cupped my face lightly.
" I will get you out of this." He stated as he lightly touched my neck and then disappeared into the night.
" Until next time." I whispered as I looked in all directions and noted that all the vampires plus two dwarfs were gone by the time that the elders had appeared.
" Her! She is the one that killed Nátulcien!" The vampire uttered every word with despise as he looked at me.
" Rolly. . . what have you done." One of the elders, my grandfather, questioned from within the group.
" Let me explain!" I cried out as I held up my hands.
" She has the girls blood all over her! She has nothing to explain for!" Another elder expressed as I felt hands wrap around my wrists and pull them behind my back.
" No please! Allow me to explain!" I pleaded as I looked to my grandfather. " Grandfather, look to my wrist-"
" Rolly Zeazal, you are under arrest for the murder of Nátulcien Essember, this act will lead to the true death by sunlight." An elder said from behind as he wrapped silver chains around my wrist that made me instantly scream out in pain.
They slowly drug me through the woods, making sure that any other vampire from my clan or any other, that was out at this time would be able to see them making a public figure out of me. My tears were staining my face because of the silver going through my wrists, just below my clock, the pain was almost unbearable. I could hear the dwarfs were near and could almost sense the eyes that were watching me from all around and knew that they elders were paying more attention to what I was doing than to anyone that was around me. I hoped that they would not do anything, leave this to the vampires, and that they would just go on with their own mission. But, of course, that would be too easy.