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Arra and Larten had flitted almost all the way down the mountain, with Arra carrying Elena and Larten carrying Darren. Harkat had been unceremoniously stuffed into Darren's knapsack. The journey that had taken months took only a few weeks. The no-flitting rule had been alleviated during the War of the Scars, the clan couldn't afford to take months to receive reports from the field. Elena and Darren were both overjoyed at being outside of the mountain. Arra and Larten were too, though they never said anything on the matter. Harkat was much more solemn.
"Aren't you glad to be on the road again Harkat?" Elena asked late one evening while they were setting up camp in a cave they had found.
"I felt…at home in the Mountain. If I can, I will return when all of this…is over."
"Perhaps you were a vampire in your previous life." Larten said seriously.
"Maybe." Harkat said.
"Well I'm glad to be out." Elena said, stretching her arms over her head.
"I thought all little girls wanted to be princesses." Larten teased.
Elena glared at him haughtily, while Darren laughed. "First of all, so not true, second of all, I know it's an honour but even you have to admit it's kind of boring."
Larten smiled, "You both had a rough investiture, normally new Princes spend their first few decades out in the field before dealing with the more mundane aspects of the job."
"Are you still having nightmares Harkat?" Arra asked kindly.
Harkat grimaced, "Yes. They're worse than before."
"Is it still dragons?" Darren asked.
"Yes and pits of stakes and shadow men…and sometimes…a witch."
"Do not say that word." Larten snapped as Arra rolled her eyes at his reaction.
"What, witch?" Darren asked, "How come?"
"Because your father is paranoid." Arra said.
Larten glared at her, "You should know better than I Evanna does not take kindly to being called a witch." He turned to the others, "Listen to me very closely, when we get to Lady Evanna's home under no circumstances are you to call her a witch."
"Is she…a witch?" Harkat asked.
"In a sense." Arra said carefully, "Though she prefers the term sorceress."
"So who is she?" Elena asked.
"I think it's best if she tell you herself." Arra said, and neither one of the full vampires would say anything more on the matter.
Darren had more trouble sleeping than usual that day. When he woke it was only midday. Glancing around he noted that everyone else, even Harkat was sleeping fitfully. Experiencing a sudden burst of energy, he decided to explore a bit. Carefully stepping over his sleeping sister, Darren made his way out of the cave. Once outside, he took off in a run, relishing in the cool fresh air. He decided instantly that this was what he missed most while stuck inside the mountain. Stopping by a stream he suddenly became aware that he was absolutely parched. He dunked his whole head in and gulped greedily. Thirst sated, he sat back, getting a shock when he noted a hairy man in the reflection of the water. With a yell, he whipped around, nails extended, in preparation to defend himself. But when he turned around, there was nobody there. Turning back to the water he saw the reflection again and whipped around once more to the same sight. Was his attacker a vampire? Or even a vampaneze? He raised his hand to scratch his face and noticed the hairy man doing the same in the water. He raised his other hand and gave a wave. The hairy man did the same. He held his hands out in front of his face, suddenly seeing the thick dark hair that had appeared there. Shakily, he reached up and stroked his face, his fingers tangled in the hair that had somehow appeared there. In a flash, he took off towards the cave, too panicked to take care in being quiet. That was his first big mistake. When he reached the cave he found his family and Harkat already armed and tensed for a fight. He swiftly dodged Harkat's axe, drawing to a sharp halt before he came into range of his mother's knives. "Wait!" He gasped, holding his hands out in front of him to show he was unarmed, "It's me!"
None others lowered their weapons. Larten took a step forward and peered into his eyes, "Darren?" He asked, "Is that you?"
"Yes." Darren groaned. "I don't know what happened."
His father groaned, "The purge."
"The what?" Darren asked.
"It's far too early for that." Arra interjected.
"Perhaps…" Larten began to muse.
"Can one of you tell me what's happening instead of discussing it amongst yourselves?" Darren asked annoyed, folding his arms across his chest.
"Usually, a half-vampire becomes a full-vampire when they are re-blooded." Larten explained, "But there is another way. If one remains a half-vampire long enough, eventually their vampiric cells attack their remaining human cells and they become a full-vampire. But usually it takes forty years or so."
"Then why am I changing now? And why isn't Lena?"
"You were already re-blooded once, though you did not receive enough to turn into a full-vampire then, it may have sped up the process."
"Wouldn't that mean Elena should change too?"
"Probably in a few weeks." Arra interjected, "She was blooded by Mika and Arrow two whole weeks after you remember."
Elena groaned, "Don't tell me I'm going to end up looking like that too."
"Hey!"
Arra smiled, "Probably not, the process is different for males and females."
"Vampiric puberty! Just what I wanted!" Elena said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Larten shook his head at her antics, pulling out an old fashioned razor. "What's that for?" Darren asked apprehensively.
"Do you wish to remain looking like the wolf-man?"
Elena snorted as Darren blushed, "No, I suppose not."
"Well at least you have hair again now." Elena chimed in, when her father had finished cutting her brother's hair.
"Gee thanks," Darren snorted.
"I think you look better with hair." Harkat said.
"I agree." Arra chimed in, ruffling his hair. "It's still light outside, we should all rest."
Over the next few weeks, both children experienced changes. They would either get sudden extreme bursts of energy or be too tired to even move. Soft noises suddenly became unbearable and sunlight blinding. Mr. Crepsley lent them his cape to cover their eyes during the day. "Is this what the sun is like to you guys?" Elena moaned, her face pressed into her father's chest to block out any light.
Larten chuckled sympathetically, "I am afraid so."
Eventually the changes settled. Darren and Elena had both filled out and gotten far taller. Darrren was almost at eye level with his father while the top of Elena's head came to his shoulder. The pair had finally reached their mid-teens after twenty-six years.
"So is that it? Are they…full vampires…now?" Harkat asked Arra.
"I don't think so." She said. She swiped a nail along Darren's forearm.
"Ouch!"
She put her finger in her mouth and then immediately spit it out. "No, you're still only a half-vampire. The purge comes in stages." She turned and started walking, "You two should enjoy your last few years in the sun."
They had finally reached the human world without any further delays. They found a small abandoned hunting cabin on the outskirts of a small town and entered to settle in for the day. They made up beds on the floor of the sitting room. Elena and Darren piled up old furniture and draped some bed sheets over the windows to block out the light. Even though they were still only half-vampires, both still found their eyes had still not quite adjusted to the brightness. Darren carefully sat on an old rickety stool, pointlessly pulling the sleeves of his sweater to the end of his wrists only for them to spring up again.
"Do you mind if we go to town to get new clothes?" Darren asked sheepishly.
Larten took in his children, both with several inches of ankles and forearms showing from ill-fitting clothes. He nodded and handed Darren some notes. "Be as quick as you can about it." He said. Elena jumped up and followed her brother out the door. Larten wrapped an arm around Arra, pressing a kiss to her brow feeling her relax into him as they settled onto their makeshift bed on the floor.
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Darren and Elena made their way into the town. "I can't wait to get into clothes that actually fit me." Elena muttered tugging on the end of her sleeve. The ends were frayed from her sharp nails tugging on the end of it.
Darren laughed and glanced at her, "You look more like mom now." He commented, "Other than the hair of course." He added ducking as she swung a fist at him.
"You look more like her than me." She shot back.
Darren raised an eyebrow at her, "When was the last time you looked in the mirror?"
She rolled her eyes and strode ahead of him, holding the door to a small outfitting store the pair had found close to the edge of town. Darren made his way to the counter, asking where they kept their clothing. The store's selection was rather limited but both managed to find simple clothes that fit them. Elena studied her face in one of the mirrors as Darren made his way to the counter to pay. As much as she hated to admit that her brother was right she could see where he was coming from. Her face had become less child-like and more structured since the purge. She was slowly starting to resemble Arra more and more. Suddenly, she felt the hair raise on the back of her neck. She turned quickly and joined Darren at the front of the store. A man was standing across from him, buying shells and outfittings for several different types of guns. The man appeared nervous, staring intently at Darren's hands… right where his scars that marked him as a vampire were.
Darren laid everything on the counter, nervously glancing back at the stranger. Elena hovered just behind him, anxiously bouncing on the balls of her feet. He paid as quickly as possible, waved at the cashier to keep the change, and then both he and Elena scampered back to the abandoned cabin.
"Mom, Dad," Darren gasped, bursting through the door and letting it shut with a slam.
Arra groaned, stirring from her sleep. "What's wrong?" She asked, sitting up.
Darren told his parents and Harkat about the man in the store. "Did he say anything to either of you?" Larten asked, voice grave.
"No." Darren replied, "But he was looking directly at my scars." He held his fingertips up, "He knew what they were, I'm sure of it."
"Plus he was buying a ton of guns." Elena added, "I doubt he was using them for recreation."
A screech of tires sounded from outside. Larten and Arra shared a glance. "Vampire hunters." Larten said seriously.
"How are you two going to fight?" Darren asked, "It's the middle of the day!"
His father ripped two shreds of fabric from his cloak and handed one to Arra. "We shall cover our eyes with these. They will block out the light enough. Besides, it will not take long for us to take care of these humans." He smirked grimly.
They all stood right next to the door as the crunch of boots sounded in the snow. "I'd guess seven, maybe eight men." Arra said.
"You and I will take two each if there are seven, the rest of you can take care of the others." Larten responded.
Larten and Arra were the first to leap out of the cabin, the yells and gunfire telling the others that they had been right about the vampire hunters. "Perhaps we should join them." Harkat suggested.
Elena grinned, "Let's go."
Sure enough there were eight of them. Larten and Arra were both engaged with fighting two people at once. Harkat rushed into the fight swinging his axe, striking one of the hunters in the back of the legs. Darren and Elena separated, taking the last two each.
"You're just a kid!" One of the hunters exclaimed as he took in the sight of Darren across from him.
Darren grinned, "That's your mistake."
The pair exchanged blows, each of them only armed with a knife. Darren was focused solely on the fight. He managed to get one of his knives cleanly into the man's shoulder. Seeing that he had nearly won the fight, Darren glanced around to make sure his family was alright. He was pleased to see Harkat burying his axe into someone's chest. Elena seemed to be making out alright too. Darren watched her slit her attacker's throat with a quick swipe of her nails. Satisfied, he turned back to his own opposition. Turning away seemed to have been a mistake. The hunter had a hand grenade, his finger in the loop of the pin.
The man sneered, "Call your friends off or I'm gonna wipe us all out."
Darren held his hands up in surrender. "Whoa, take it easy."
"Call them off!" He shouted, "Or I'm gonna-" He was cut off by a throwing star embedding itself in his throat.
Darren stared at the corpse in confusion. No one he knew used a weapon like that.
"Didn't Vanez Blane ever tell you only ever turn your back on a corpse boy?"
Darren whipped around, a tall wild looking man with green hair dressed in purple shaggy furs emerged from the trees. He strode right past Darren. "I'll take my shruniken back now thank you." He pulled the throwing knife from the corpse and strapped it to a belt across his chest. He leaned over again to inspect the corpse. To Darren's surprise he brushed the hair away from the man's forehead and then spat in disgust. "A vampet! I should have known."
"Excuse me?" Darren said. "Sire March I presume. I've heard a lot about you. It's an honour sire."
"Of course it is!" Sire March bellowed, "And you must be the cub prince I've heard so much about."
Larten and Harkat quickly made their way back over. "Vancha!" Larten said, "I thought you were in the north Sire."
"Larten." Vancha greeted, "It's good to see you. I've been following you lot for the past week. I wanted to see our new leaders for myself. Though I have to admit from this fight I can't say I'm overly impressed-at least with one of them." Darren glanced down, shame creeping up the back of his neck.
Arra and Elena soon joined the group after piling the rest of the corpses in the woods. "Sails." Vancha grinned, "You're looking as gorgeous as ever. Still not sick of the orange-haired buffoon I see."
"Sire." Arra greeted, the corner of her mouth curving into a smirk.
"And this must be our first Princess." Vancha said, giving a ridiculously low bow. "You're lucky Larten, she looks more like her mother than you."
Larten rolled his eyes at the prince. "And who is this?" Vancha asked, peering down to get a closer look at Harkat.
"My name… is …Harkat Mulds… Sire March."
"A Little Person that talks?!" Vancha exclaimed. He peered suspiciously at Harkat for a few moments then took a seat and began chewing his toenails. Darren and Elena stared at him in disbelief, while both their parents looked both unbothered and unsurprised by the prince's strange habits. "I'll be honest with you Mulds. I don't trust Tiny or any of his associates."
"Well I don't trust vampires… who chew their toenails... Sire" Harkat responded cheekily.
Vancha burst into laughter. "I think we'll get along fine Mulds." He turned to Larten and Arra, "I haven't run into any generals lately. The last news I heard was about these two from Arrow." He jerked his head at the twins. "Any news from the mountain?"
"A lot has happened since then." Larten said. They told Vancha about Tiny's visit and the hunt for the Vampaneze Lord.
"Well, I don't think it would take a genius to surmise that I'm the fifth hunter." Vancha mused. "In any case, I was headed to Evanna's anyways. She can tell us if Tiny speaks the truth. She may keep a lot to herself, but I've never known her to lie."
The group walked back to the cabin to settle in for the rest day. Vancha began snoring almost as soon as he had found a spot on the floor that suited him. "Don't be fooled." Arra whispered to Darren and Elena, "Vancha may seem a bit… wild, but he is an honourable vampire and prince. He just likes roughing it even more than most."
"If you say so." Elena shrugged, sliding to the floor next to her father.
The group drifted off to sleep one by one. The five hunters, now complete, ready for the last leg of their journey to the cave of Lady Evanna and the hunt for the Lord of the Vampaneze.