5 chapter 5

"We done here, lads," the huge leader scoffed. "Ya two, bring him along... we got some raven to send," the leading thug bellowed and his men scampered to carry out his instructions.

"Pardon my intrusion... I got bored watching from the shadows," I remarked, stepping out with predatory grace. The thugs, caught off guard, turned toward me with a mix of confusion and alarm.

The shock only lasted for a while before their leader's arrogance returned. The man took a good long look at me or rather the clothes I was wearing. It was the same look he had given Sam when he had said he had silver stags.

a look of plain greed. 

Then he began to laugh... deep guttural laughter. Idiotic laughter. Immediately I knew what the guy was doing. I had seen and encountered, even used this tactic many times in my long existence.

See, when people in a position of power are caught off guard, especially before their juniors, they often stall to buy time while trying to find a countermeasure. One of those stalling methods was wild laughter. And it often is infectious, as was soon evident in the giggling faces of the formerly surprised thugs. 

The sight of their laughing leader gave them some assurance, even though they did not know what it was.

"Bless me old beards... I suppose I should thank ye matey... it really would have been a great loss for us to leave without robbing ye as well."

Now the rest of the gang roared in laughter as well; they were slowly gaining their courage back, I could tell. On my part, I knew the guy was dead scared. I could tell from his thunderous heartbeat that was exploding in my ears. I did not have to look into his thoughts to know what I would find there. It was fear.

I was growing impatient, however, and the stupid little tricks that the guy was employing were not doing much to assuage the situation. Nothing could but fresh trickling blood from the source.

"I would love to share the joke... but first, I am in need of something red... any volunteer," I took my first step towards the thug. It was a small step, but now only a meter of space stood between us. 

The sudden move caught the thug off guard. He certainly had not expected the audacity, more so since he was armed and I wasn't. At least not in ways he could see.

I felt his thoughts again even before he yelled them a second later. I could have avoided it easily, but I chose to let it happen. After all, hungry as I was, draining just one of them was enough for me, and since I did not see any pleasure I could derive from murdering the rest, I needed to scare them off.

"Die ye moron," the leader yelled as he gestured with his hand for his men who had their arrows now trailed on me to loose them.

I made as if to take another step, but two arrows managed to pierce clean through my heart. I stopped amid my track.

 Silver! 

Warning bells flashed through my head. hell, what if....? 

But minutes later, I realized that it was unwarranted fear. Where could a bunch of thugs and cutthroats get silver to melt and mold into arrows? I mean, even assuming they had them, the only thing on their minds would be to spend it all in brothels and taverns. Besides, steel would work just fine on anyone else, just not me.

I reached and pulled the first arrow cleanly out of my chest. Blood had soaked around the wound, but as I pulled the arrows out one by one, the open wounds closed almost immediately.

The thugs' eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets, and even the leader who had been so pompous before began to back away slowly, his axe stretched before me as if to ward me off.

"May the gods save us, what kind of sorcerer are ye?" the thug stammered now clearly fear-stricken. It took another step forward, and the thug kept backing away.

"Bloody ice demons and wights! Boss, we would better beat it," said another thug.

"Your guess is wrong I am afraid... I am something far more older and dangerous." Suddenly I opened my mouth to reveal two pairs of fangs that had suddenly emerged.

That finally did it. 

With a cry of terror, all the thugs threw their weapons down and disappeared into the woods, even the ones who had been holding Sam dropped the unconscious boy down and rushed after their friend.

It was now just me and their leader left on the wood, well as well as Sam and the corpses of his dead soldiers. 

The scent of the dead soldiers' clotting blood finally made me succumb.

Suddenly the man threw his axe towards me and did not even wait to see if it made contact. He turned and scampered towards the woods where the rest of his gang had disappeared to.

The next second, he was yelling and stumbling backward as I materialized right ahead of the path he was headed towards.

"Seven hells! A bloody demon, ye are!" he spat out, desperation creeping into his voice.

In his panic, he fumbled for another weapon, only to find himself empty-handed. 

"By the old gods and the new, spare me from this madness!" he cried out, glancing frantically around for an escape route. He then turned and fled towards the place I had laid hidden, as I watched him murder the helpless soldiers only to witness me seemingly materialize less than a meter right ahead of him.

With a yell of terror, the poor guy clasped both his massive palms on his face as if blocking his eyes from seeing me. "May the Others take me before this devil does! What dark magic have ye brought upon us?" But I had finally amused myself enough. In any case, it was never good manners to play with your food, at least not too long.

With a burst of speed and unrestrained lust, I closed the distance between us and sank my fangs into the thug's neck.

The thug let out a guttural scream as my fangs sank deep into his neck, blood spurting out and staining my lips crimson.

 His struggles were feeble, and within moments, his body went limp. The taste of his life force surged through me, invigorating and empowering. Normally I would try restraining myself not to drain the victim, but not for this one; I held nothing back. When I finally withdrew my fangs, he crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

The woods had once again become dead silent. I wiped the blood from my lips, savoring the lingering warmth. 

"Not the best but certainly better than the deer's blood," I sighed, turning and scanning the clearing which was littered by dead bodies.

A grant came from Sam's direction; I needed to move fast. I could not let the guy regain his consciousness while things were still in this state. Too many questions would be asked, none of which I had answers to, none of which I wished to lie about. Lying was beneath me; better silence. But then silence always provokes curiosity, and the last thing I wanted was a person within the Watch suspicious of me.

I bent and tore Sam's pouch from the dead thug. Slowly I opened it, and the light from the moon hit the coins' shiny surface. I felt as if my eyes were being blinded by the sun. Still, I needed to confirm the lores I had read and watched many times from films and fiction – was I vulnerable to silver?

I dipped my hand into the pouch and grabbed a handful of the coins.

 For a medieval smith, the coins were well-minted. For a moment, I held the coins in my palms, feeling the coarse texture in my hands. Nothing happened, and I began to think that this was one of the weaknesses I had evaded. Then suddenly, a searing feeling burnt through my palms, and I could smell burning flesh.

"Damn it," I cursed as I threw the coins from my palms, sending them scattering around the clearing. The pain that was going through me was getting unbearable, and I clasped my burnt hand. Slowly, however, the pain subsided as fresh skin began to cover the burns.

"Fuck... that was horrible." Another weakness had been confirmed. It now strongly led me to believe that most weaknesses associated with vampires affected me. This revelation made me realize that my life within the Night's Watch would be hell.

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chapter 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are already in pat.reon.com/realmsinus.