Chapter 6
**************************************************
"Why are you doing this?" Karie asked her father as she balanced on two polls playfully. Niccolie and Karie weretwenty feet off the ground standing on a collection of skinny polls that extended form the gym floor. Niccolie maintained a prefect stand with out striving to stay balanced, with two sticks in his hands.
"Well, I thought since you were so sure you could handle your self, I figured that you could should challenge a more difficult adversary." He said lifting up one stick to her. The object of this course was simple; you fight with sticks and try to knock the other person off the polls to the ground.
Karie took the poll and moved to a more balanced position. Everyone was below watching the two.
"GO!!" yelled the teacher and they began.
Niccolie was quick; he flung the stick to her side, which Karie blocked. She knocked the stick away and trusted hers at him which he knocked away almost making her lose her grip. Karie struggled for a balance and made a swift struck upwards just missing Niccolies face as he shifted out of the way. She was about to bring another stroke down went she felt Niccolies stick tap her right leg gently.
"You are not thinking of my moves, you are concentrating too hard on what YOU are doing, then what I am doing. I am going easy on you." He said moving the stick away from her leg.
Karie felt a little embarrassed in front of her friends and quickly moved for a downward strike. But just as she was to do so she heard Niccolies words in her head, Niccolie moved for a quick shoulder height hit, but she blocked it just in time. He looked at her, almost amazed on how quickly she had learned. She took up a defensive stand and blocked his next hit. They went faster and Niccolie seemed to try a new hit every time. Suddenly he faked a hit and she tried to block it.
*Thap* went the stick on Karie right leg
Karie almost slipped off the poll, but used her stick as a brace against the pools to regain her balances.
She stood balanced one again. Niccolie smiled at her with pride. Then he thrust his stick at her as she dodged it, then he swung it to the side and nicked her leg almost tipping her over the side. She knocked the stick aside fiercely then thrust her stick at him.
*Clutch*
Niccolie caught the stick with his hand and he and Karie began to push and pull the stick to push her over.
"Gahh!! Let go!!" she yelled at him
"No human would ever give you that privilege now would he?" Niccolie said with a laugh.
Suddenly the stick was jerked forward with such speed it caught Niccolie off guard, he lost his balance. And dropped his stick as he struggled to get his balance back.
When he did get his balance back he looked down were his stick was, the up at Karie who had her stick rested on her neck and with her arms resting on it.
"Looks like you lost father." She said with a smile.
"Well, you still have but to knock me down."
"You got to be kidding me, you have no stick."
" A soldier never gives up."
"If you get mad at me for this, remember it's was your fault." She said getting her stick ready.
She brought down a swing and he blocked it with his arm. She looked at him and moved again, he blocked it. They began to speed up, each move she made he blocked. Then she did a leg sweep and he jumped above the stick, but found himself falling backwards, his armor was giving him unbalenced waight as he lost his balance as he landed on the polls.
He flapped his arms franticly to get his balance back.
"I win" Karie said giving him a final nudge off the polls with the end of her stick.
"Damn" Niccolie muttered as he fell off the polls, and to the ground in a twirling mess of tattered cape and armor.
*THUD*
He landed next to his stick. Karie looked down,
"Dad are you ok?"
Niccolie stood up. His back hurt, but nothing was broken. Being a vampire will do that to you.
"YOUR LUCKLY I WENT EASY ON YOU!!" he yelled up at her.
"Does that mean we don't spend the next week and a half in the detention cell?" asked EL.
"Yes" he muttered rubbing his ass.
Everyone cheered as Karie razed her stick in victory. The cheering went on for several minutes.
"What a shame." Said a familiar voice behind Niccolie.
He turned around to see Kyla leaning against one of the walls.
"She is my daughter, I had to let her win." Said Niccolie Turning to Karie as she yelled in victory to her friends.
"Daughter? Is there such a thing in this world of vampires?"
"Yes, we are all related through clan, but Karie is my birth daughter."
"How is that possible?"
"It's a long story, and this isn't the place to tell it." Niccolie approached her.
"Well some time I will wish to hear it."
"Why have you come, lady Kyla?"
"Zephon just got some urgent news, he is having the meeting early."
"Now?"
"Yes, now."
The two quickly left the training grounds. And hurried to the meeting room. Zephon and his other lieutenants were waiting.
"Good, you found him. I was afraid you might have left to do some thing else." Zephon said as he quickly sat down on his throne.
"What is this new news?" Niccolie asked as he took the fist lieutenants stand
"The humans are finally joining forces, mostly due to the destruction of Willendorf. The humans have gone into shock and are finally assembling in a massive army near the plains to the north, we think they be planning an attack on one of the other clans cities. But a trader came in last night and said he saw some human movement not far from here."
"That must be nonsense when I road in I saw no sign of life out there." Niccolie reconfirmed
"I was not finished, lord Kain has decide to act upon this as a full scale war. He wants to form the clans in to one single army, temporarily of course, No more little battles and clan conflics. So a week from now we will be going to our capital. For a meeting of the clans."
"Were is this capital you speak of? I never knew we had a capital." Asked Kyla
"I never told you were it was for Safety reasons. Lord Kain has made the pillars of Nosgoth the capital for the empire."
"The pillars!!??" everyone yelled in the room.
"Yes, the humans don't know it yet, but we have placed some heavy defensive forces there. It is where Kain lives. As I was saying however, we will have a clan meeting, all the clan leaders and their lieutenants are to attend and there we will meet with Kain. I request those of you who have operations outside of the clan territories bring them in or shut them down. Because Kain said that we will no longer have to watch and study our assigned targets. It's time to move forward with the empire."
"I have to talk to Rahab about his plan for the abbey." Niccolie pointed out "we will have to plan for some other time"
"Go and tell him you aren't available. Because Kain has plans for you too."
"He does?"
"Yes, kain wants you to lead all the cavalry units with Raziel's first and seconded lieutenants, you are to depart as soon as possible to give the unified cavalry unit a crash coarse on your battle strategy."
"What!" Niccolie was in shock his entire schedule had been thrown out the window.
"If you have a problem, take it up with kain. Just tell Rahab you are busy, while you are doing that, tell him that my plans for his spear weapons are cancelled till I am finished with the plans kain has for me."
"What plans for you?"
"Some thing to do with Melchiah and his brood. all the news all of you have, report it now."
One by one each lieutenant reported. Stating with Niccolie.
"Nothing of interest." He said plainly.
Niccolie looked around at the lieutenants and noticed that Kyla was looking back at him, with eager eyes. He looked back at her and raised an eyebrow.
She smiled and stretched her neck and ran her hand across it slowly. For obvious reasons vampires happen to be attracted to necks, and Niccolie was unsure what to think of it. It had been a long time since any one had flirted with him, almost a ten years. He looked at her and made a look of interested with a smile.
"Nothing of interest" she said with out taking her eyes off Niccolie as the lieutenant next to her finished reporting.
She ran her hand down the other side of her neck and smiled at him.
Niccolie smiled back.
"Niccolie?" said Zephon breaking the trance.
"Huh? What?" niccolie studdered
"I said, go tomorrow and tell Rahab you can't make it for his plans and tell him about me canceling the project." He said in an irritated tone.
"Um, yes sir," said Niccolie trying to get his wits strait.
"All right then, dismissed." Said Zephon and the lieutenants walked out, by lowest rank to highest. Kyla walked out and winked at Niccolie as she left the room. Niccolie left once the seconded lieutenant left.
Once out side the room he quickly looked about for Kyla. She was nowhere in sight.
He looked around. Suddenly he saw something move down at the end of the hallway. He went after it and ended up at the side of the other hall that leads to the lieutenants' rooms. He looked around and heard something at the end of the room. He slowly walked down the hall. Suddenly some one grabbed him and pulled him aside.
It was Kyla, she smiled at him.
"Kyla I. *smufff*"
His words were drowned out as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. The kiss seemed to last forever. She finally pulled away and seemed shocked at what she did. Niccolie wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him and looked her in the eyes.
Then they kissed again and every thing seemed to blur around Niccolie.
*********************************************************
That night.
"So he just ran off?" asked Ariel.
Everyone sat at his or her table in the blood fountain room. Quietly sipping their blood.
"I think he had to go to the meeting." Said Thresh
"Or maybe he was embarrassed that he lost to you" added Shila
"Could be anything, he is a very busy person." Said Karie sipping her drink. "Maybe he will consider slacking off on the 'must protect you' attitude."
"Come on Karie he could have easily knocked you down, several times I might add" said Moemie.
"Well at lest I showed him I won't turn from a fight." Karie reassured herself.
EL walked in to the room with the chess bored. And sat down across from thresh.
"I just got some interesting news floating around the hall." He said setting up the pieces
"What is that?"
"There is going to be a big meeting with all the clan leaders a few days from now. All the clan leaders and their lieutenants are going to meeting with lord kain."
"Are you serious," Momie stood up in shock
"That's what I heard"
"It's going to be a mess, too may clans have grudges against each other. Including the Zephonim and the Turelim" Trash was quick to point out.
"We will see, this may be the only way to end the clanconflics." Said Moemie sipping her blood.
"Well it also could create a civil-clan war." Thresh sounded worried
"No, I also hear it is a meeting of war. Lord kain wants to form the clans together to create the ultimate vampire army. He wants the clans to work together under his rule to take down the humans in one sweep."
"Lord kain overestimates the humans I think." thresh pondered
"Or he just really hates them." Karie stated the obvious
"Well, I don't feel like I want to join this war." Thresh added nervously.
"Sometime we will all have part in it, I feel." shila mumbled
"Check mate!" said EL moving his piece
"Damn" thresh cursed quietly and began resetting the pieces.
"Yeah, I hear the recruiters are coming too" EL got back to the subject.
"Great, I am war bait" thresh moaned.
"Well I heard your father is leaving too. It gives us an opportunity to...ahum...'explore'," said EL looking up from his game
"Are you crazy or just plain stupid?"karie asked
"Come on Karie you beat your dad, you're a fully-fledged worrier now." Shila nudged her.
"Maybe tomorrow, but I really wouldn't want another day with my dad."
"Well, Karie I am with EL we didn't get to have all our fun out side these training walls."
"Yeah, ...oh" EL moved his piece "check mate."
"DAMN!" thresh slammed his fist on the table.
Everyone laughed as the night rolled on.
**************************************************
"Why are you doing this?" Karie asked her father as she balanced on two polls playfully. Niccolie and Karie weretwenty feet off the ground standing on a collection of skinny polls that extended form the gym floor. Niccolie maintained a prefect stand with out striving to stay balanced, with two sticks in his hands.
"Well, I thought since you were so sure you could handle your self, I figured that you could should challenge a more difficult adversary." He said lifting up one stick to her. The object of this course was simple; you fight with sticks and try to knock the other person off the polls to the ground.
Karie took the poll and moved to a more balanced position. Everyone was below watching the two.
"GO!!" yelled the teacher and they began.
Niccolie was quick; he flung the stick to her side, which Karie blocked. She knocked the stick away and trusted hers at him which he knocked away almost making her lose her grip. Karie struggled for a balance and made a swift struck upwards just missing Niccolies face as he shifted out of the way. She was about to bring another stroke down went she felt Niccolies stick tap her right leg gently.
"You are not thinking of my moves, you are concentrating too hard on what YOU are doing, then what I am doing. I am going easy on you." He said moving the stick away from her leg.
Karie felt a little embarrassed in front of her friends and quickly moved for a downward strike. But just as she was to do so she heard Niccolies words in her head, Niccolie moved for a quick shoulder height hit, but she blocked it just in time. He looked at her, almost amazed on how quickly she had learned. She took up a defensive stand and blocked his next hit. They went faster and Niccolie seemed to try a new hit every time. Suddenly he faked a hit and she tried to block it.
*Thap* went the stick on Karie right leg
Karie almost slipped off the poll, but used her stick as a brace against the pools to regain her balances.
She stood balanced one again. Niccolie smiled at her with pride. Then he thrust his stick at her as she dodged it, then he swung it to the side and nicked her leg almost tipping her over the side. She knocked the stick aside fiercely then thrust her stick at him.
*Clutch*
Niccolie caught the stick with his hand and he and Karie began to push and pull the stick to push her over.
"Gahh!! Let go!!" she yelled at him
"No human would ever give you that privilege now would he?" Niccolie said with a laugh.
Suddenly the stick was jerked forward with such speed it caught Niccolie off guard, he lost his balance. And dropped his stick as he struggled to get his balance back.
When he did get his balance back he looked down were his stick was, the up at Karie who had her stick rested on her neck and with her arms resting on it.
"Looks like you lost father." She said with a smile.
"Well, you still have but to knock me down."
"You got to be kidding me, you have no stick."
" A soldier never gives up."
"If you get mad at me for this, remember it's was your fault." She said getting her stick ready.
She brought down a swing and he blocked it with his arm. She looked at him and moved again, he blocked it. They began to speed up, each move she made he blocked. Then she did a leg sweep and he jumped above the stick, but found himself falling backwards, his armor was giving him unbalenced waight as he lost his balance as he landed on the polls.
He flapped his arms franticly to get his balance back.
"I win" Karie said giving him a final nudge off the polls with the end of her stick.
"Damn" Niccolie muttered as he fell off the polls, and to the ground in a twirling mess of tattered cape and armor.
*THUD*
He landed next to his stick. Karie looked down,
"Dad are you ok?"
Niccolie stood up. His back hurt, but nothing was broken. Being a vampire will do that to you.
"YOUR LUCKLY I WENT EASY ON YOU!!" he yelled up at her.
"Does that mean we don't spend the next week and a half in the detention cell?" asked EL.
"Yes" he muttered rubbing his ass.
Everyone cheered as Karie razed her stick in victory. The cheering went on for several minutes.
"What a shame." Said a familiar voice behind Niccolie.
He turned around to see Kyla leaning against one of the walls.
"She is my daughter, I had to let her win." Said Niccolie Turning to Karie as she yelled in victory to her friends.
"Daughter? Is there such a thing in this world of vampires?"
"Yes, we are all related through clan, but Karie is my birth daughter."
"How is that possible?"
"It's a long story, and this isn't the place to tell it." Niccolie approached her.
"Well some time I will wish to hear it."
"Why have you come, lady Kyla?"
"Zephon just got some urgent news, he is having the meeting early."
"Now?"
"Yes, now."
The two quickly left the training grounds. And hurried to the meeting room. Zephon and his other lieutenants were waiting.
"Good, you found him. I was afraid you might have left to do some thing else." Zephon said as he quickly sat down on his throne.
"What is this new news?" Niccolie asked as he took the fist lieutenants stand
"The humans are finally joining forces, mostly due to the destruction of Willendorf. The humans have gone into shock and are finally assembling in a massive army near the plains to the north, we think they be planning an attack on one of the other clans cities. But a trader came in last night and said he saw some human movement not far from here."
"That must be nonsense when I road in I saw no sign of life out there." Niccolie reconfirmed
"I was not finished, lord Kain has decide to act upon this as a full scale war. He wants to form the clans in to one single army, temporarily of course, No more little battles and clan conflics. So a week from now we will be going to our capital. For a meeting of the clans."
"Were is this capital you speak of? I never knew we had a capital." Asked Kyla
"I never told you were it was for Safety reasons. Lord Kain has made the pillars of Nosgoth the capital for the empire."
"The pillars!!??" everyone yelled in the room.
"Yes, the humans don't know it yet, but we have placed some heavy defensive forces there. It is where Kain lives. As I was saying however, we will have a clan meeting, all the clan leaders and their lieutenants are to attend and there we will meet with Kain. I request those of you who have operations outside of the clan territories bring them in or shut them down. Because Kain said that we will no longer have to watch and study our assigned targets. It's time to move forward with the empire."
"I have to talk to Rahab about his plan for the abbey." Niccolie pointed out "we will have to plan for some other time"
"Go and tell him you aren't available. Because Kain has plans for you too."
"He does?"
"Yes, kain wants you to lead all the cavalry units with Raziel's first and seconded lieutenants, you are to depart as soon as possible to give the unified cavalry unit a crash coarse on your battle strategy."
"What!" Niccolie was in shock his entire schedule had been thrown out the window.
"If you have a problem, take it up with kain. Just tell Rahab you are busy, while you are doing that, tell him that my plans for his spear weapons are cancelled till I am finished with the plans kain has for me."
"What plans for you?"
"Some thing to do with Melchiah and his brood. all the news all of you have, report it now."
One by one each lieutenant reported. Stating with Niccolie.
"Nothing of interest." He said plainly.
Niccolie looked around at the lieutenants and noticed that Kyla was looking back at him, with eager eyes. He looked back at her and raised an eyebrow.
She smiled and stretched her neck and ran her hand across it slowly. For obvious reasons vampires happen to be attracted to necks, and Niccolie was unsure what to think of it. It had been a long time since any one had flirted with him, almost a ten years. He looked at her and made a look of interested with a smile.
"Nothing of interest" she said with out taking her eyes off Niccolie as the lieutenant next to her finished reporting.
She ran her hand down the other side of her neck and smiled at him.
Niccolie smiled back.
"Niccolie?" said Zephon breaking the trance.
"Huh? What?" niccolie studdered
"I said, go tomorrow and tell Rahab you can't make it for his plans and tell him about me canceling the project." He said in an irritated tone.
"Um, yes sir," said Niccolie trying to get his wits strait.
"All right then, dismissed." Said Zephon and the lieutenants walked out, by lowest rank to highest. Kyla walked out and winked at Niccolie as she left the room. Niccolie left once the seconded lieutenant left.
Once out side the room he quickly looked about for Kyla. She was nowhere in sight.
He looked around. Suddenly he saw something move down at the end of the hallway. He went after it and ended up at the side of the other hall that leads to the lieutenants' rooms. He looked around and heard something at the end of the room. He slowly walked down the hall. Suddenly some one grabbed him and pulled him aside.
It was Kyla, she smiled at him.
"Kyla I. *smufff*"
His words were drowned out as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. The kiss seemed to last forever. She finally pulled away and seemed shocked at what she did. Niccolie wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him and looked her in the eyes.
Then they kissed again and every thing seemed to blur around Niccolie.
*********************************************************
That night.
"So he just ran off?" asked Ariel.
Everyone sat at his or her table in the blood fountain room. Quietly sipping their blood.
"I think he had to go to the meeting." Said Thresh
"Or maybe he was embarrassed that he lost to you" added Shila
"Could be anything, he is a very busy person." Said Karie sipping her drink. "Maybe he will consider slacking off on the 'must protect you' attitude."
"Come on Karie he could have easily knocked you down, several times I might add" said Moemie.
"Well at lest I showed him I won't turn from a fight." Karie reassured herself.
EL walked in to the room with the chess bored. And sat down across from thresh.
"I just got some interesting news floating around the hall." He said setting up the pieces
"What is that?"
"There is going to be a big meeting with all the clan leaders a few days from now. All the clan leaders and their lieutenants are going to meeting with lord kain."
"Are you serious," Momie stood up in shock
"That's what I heard"
"It's going to be a mess, too may clans have grudges against each other. Including the Zephonim and the Turelim" Trash was quick to point out.
"We will see, this may be the only way to end the clanconflics." Said Moemie sipping her blood.
"Well it also could create a civil-clan war." Thresh sounded worried
"No, I also hear it is a meeting of war. Lord kain wants to form the clans together to create the ultimate vampire army. He wants the clans to work together under his rule to take down the humans in one sweep."
"Lord kain overestimates the humans I think." thresh pondered
"Or he just really hates them." Karie stated the obvious
"Well, I don't feel like I want to join this war." Thresh added nervously.
"Sometime we will all have part in it, I feel." shila mumbled
"Check mate!" said EL moving his piece
"Damn" thresh cursed quietly and began resetting the pieces.
"Yeah, I hear the recruiters are coming too" EL got back to the subject.
"Great, I am war bait" thresh moaned.
"Well I heard your father is leaving too. It gives us an opportunity to...ahum...'explore'," said EL looking up from his game
"Are you crazy or just plain stupid?"karie asked
"Come on Karie you beat your dad, you're a fully-fledged worrier now." Shila nudged her.
"Maybe tomorrow, but I really wouldn't want another day with my dad."
"Well, Karie I am with EL we didn't get to have all our fun out side these training walls."
"Yeah, ...oh" EL moved his piece "check mate."
"DAMN!" thresh slammed his fist on the table.
Everyone laughed as the night rolled on.
