6 Stone's Throw Away

"Is he another vampire?" Bryce asked, watching the fight that was going on. All he knew was that it was pretty damn o

one-sided. The hooded figure was slicing them up easily, and he was stronger. Not even flinching when he grabbed one vampire moving at full speed. As if the full weight of that being slamming into him, meant nothing.

"I don't think so, something's off about him," Kendra said watching and they both made a gasping sound as one vampire was ripped off the man's back by a wicked-looking creature that seemed to appear from nowhere. It devoured the vampire and then was gone the next second. Kendra couldn't help it, she was completely awestruck by the display of power. It was a bit fast to get a good look and the fire made it hard to get details of the creature.

"What was that?" Bryce whispered and she couldn't even fathom a guess. It was nothing she'd ever seen before. The man moved with confidence and they could just make out the dark hair that he had and that he was taller as well. Even coated in blood and bleeding himself, he moved like there wasn't anything wrong. They watched as he drained a vampire and it fell to the ground in what looked to be horrendous pain.

"He has to be a vampire, look what he did."

"Shush, what if they hear us?" She whispered moving to get a better view. Bryce put a hand on her arm and kept her where she was. However, she was mesmerized by how this man moved. She wished she could move like that, have that confidence that he seemed to. There was something about it, about him a powerful draw. Kendra just could not look away from him. He wasn't anything remotely human that was for sure. She wanted to get closer to him, for no reason that she could discern. She needed to like she had to. It was the strangest sensation she'd ever had toward another being.

They saw the arc of flames shoot up from nowhere. The man spoke but it was hard to hear and then he raised his arm and made a quick circling gesture. The flames were suddenly everywhere and they had no choice but to turn tail and run. This entire section of the town was going to burn down. They heard what sounded almost like a roar but didn't have time to stop and look, the flames were greedy and seemed to be fueled by something unearthly.

Kendra could just not believe her eyes on what she just saw. Was that the creature they had been sent to find? With the flames, she could see why they thought it might be a dragon. However, there was a man. Was this just a mage with a special skill? Was it something more? As she ran to get out of the area that was starting to burn a million questions ran through her head. Plus that mysterious figure was stuck there too. Who exactly was that man or beast?

__Xerxes__

"I need a bit more substance," Xerxes said watching the humans scramble about putting out the fires. They had killed them all. Zani ate most of them and now they just watched the busy little humans work. Xerxes' gaze swept the area though, he felt like something was close. Something or someone. Both felt watched for a moment, but for all, they knew right now it could be more vampires. If they were smart they'd keep their distance. Still, something just nagged at the back of Xerxes' head for a moment, but he let it slide away for now.

"The vampires were not enough," Xerxes stated. They never were, it was like humans eating candy. The sugar rush was great but in the end, it didn't really abate the hunger you felt.

'Really, I feel just fine.' Xerxes glanced up at him.

"Not all of us are fed by the flesh of others." He said eyeing the humans moving around. Unlike other species, the only thing he got from them was a boost in power. Nothing more really. In the end, he always had to come back to humans to feed.

'Yes, well vampires don't taste all that great. Humans do taste a bit better, but the best is moose.' Zani said with a sigh in his voice. Xerxes held a smile. Zani sounded like a kid thinking about candy.

"I noticed the damage you like to cause the moose population when we are in that part of the world."

'Or grizzly, that is good too. Elephant is absolutely disgusting, however. I wouldn't touch it again if I was starving to death.' Zani grumbled into Xerxes' mind.

"I doubt that." He chuckled back.

'Well maybe if I was starving to death, but not before then.' Zani clarified and they were sitting up on a higher outcropping that overlooked the area that Xerxes had set ablaze. The humans were running around trying to put the flames out and they were nearly done with it. He viewed the damage from here, and it almost looked like a perfect circle of burnt wreckage. Except where the flames had leaped to other buildings.

"I don't see why groups such as that one seem to track down those who are different. They even killed their own kind, you could see the decay starting to set into their bodies and mind. There are so many more humans than other species." It annoyed and angered him, why destroy your own kind?

'Why are you complaining? It gave you entertainment and me a full stomach.'

"Because at the end of the day there are more humans to outnumber the rest of us, and I don't just mean the supernatural populace." No, he meant it all, short of insects but he didn't think that they counted.

'I'm afraid that is how it will be. We will live to see the end of everything, humans will see to it that they chose the species to survive.' Xerxes looked at Zani for a long moment not blinking.

"Then why even bother with it all?" He said feeling a bit dower at the moment, he figured it was due more to his lack of proper feeding this night.

'To remind them that they are not the only superior being on this planet and there are those that can destroy them as well.' Xerxes stood and Zani moved growing smaller and grabbing onto his pant leg going up his side and sitting on his shoulder. His tail wrapped around Xerxes' opposite shoulder and hooked back around his throat.

"Good point." He said stretching the large wings behind him for a moment before moving them back into a resting position. They were a black in color and they swept up in an arching motion with claws at the end. They looked like they might be leathery, but up close you could see the millions of tiny feathers that made them up.

'I always have good points. Like Instine.'

'It's Einstein.' Xerxes corrected mentally. Zani's tail dug into his collarbone a bit and Xerxes just flashed him a glance and a smile. He was forever getting things wrong, sometimes Xerxes wondered if he just did it on purpose.

"We must leave this place, there are humans who have grown too curious and we were being watched." That was always a danger, wasn't it? Humans finding out. Humans with dangerous weapons that also didn't care about the collateral damage to their own kind. Xerxes just curled a lip, you know what if they were a dwindling race they would care. If they had to face a future with no mate, just watching the rest of the world get what you never would. Maybe then you'd fucking care about damaging your kind or looking out for YOUR own kind. Once more looking at the humans all he could see were busy little ants not caring about the great good of the world.

'Yes, this damage brings too much attention. We can move and find something else to destroy, but let us stay in this mountain area. I want to visit our origin, our old home, and her.' Zani's voice was wistful and sad at the same time. Xerxes felt Zani's old pain and wished dearly there was something he could do about it. Xerxes gaze went back to the town they had just burned. For a moment he had this urge to go back down there, an odd need from nowhere but ignored it. There was nothing down there for him.

"I think I would like that very much," Xerxes said and turned moving off into the forest, leaving the town behind him without a second thought. If only he and Zani hadn't grown so numb to the world. To the feelings around them. They might have realized then that the one that had been watching them was worth more than a second glance. However, it was easy to miss what was right in front of you when you simply stopped believing in anything more.