• Chapter One-Fifteen Years Later

    Esthar jolted awake sweat pouring down his face. That same dream had been playing in his head over and over again for the last ten days. It was a dream about his father and that terrible day. Vampires ended up getting into the city and hiding in the shadows so for the next few days there had been hunting parties sent out to kill the surviving vampires. Esthar had had no idea what had happened until two days later Cameron had come to the house all bandaged up and carrying the pieces of Jacobs’s weapon. He told Esthar what he had seen and how valiantly his father had fought, but in the end he was killed by an Elder Vampire by the name of Nakuru Risika. He had neglected to tell him how she killed him though. Now it was noon and the need to move overwhelmed him, so he got out of the bed and slung his lance over his shoulder. When his father had died he remade his weapon using two katanas that he had traded for earlier that year. They were better quality than he could have ever hoped for and now it seemed like it was the perfect weapon. Two katanas clipped onto a metal pole with three magnetic clips per blade seemed like it would be all that he would need. He had rigged the weapon to be strong but also so that it would be the ultimate fighting weapon. If the pole were ever to bend or break then he could easily remove the magnetic clips and use the two katanas individually or as sword and spear if he chose. He had trained long and hard with this weapon and had shown the people of the city that he was every bit as good as his father, better even. Like his father he was the lead repairman for the lights and he commanded his own regiment for the city. His regiment consisted of about fifteen men while the others normally consisted of about twenty. This fact made it so much harder for them to defend this spot that there were more problems with the Vampires here than anywhere else in the city. Esthar walked through the city and waved to some of the people that he saw, the glum looks that they gave him let him know that they were tired and wanted this all to end. At this point everyone wanted it to end in one way or another. Esthar continued on trying to find some of his team and began searching the bars. He found two of his team in the downtown bar and sat down with them talking about how the last battle went and how they could do things differently to lower the death toll as much as possible. It was always a goal to stop the killing so Esthar had banded together with several other warriors and had begun training the city folk how to lay traps around the city and to begin making an underground shelter for when the city ended up being overrun. It progress had been substantial so far and in only a few days they had cut back the forest outside the city several hundred yards and had begun digging the beginning of the shelter out.

    When they had finished talking Esthar got up to leave when he saw his friend TJ walk in along with Debby. Esthar waved them over and pulled out the seats from another table to accommodate their seating. As TJ approached with a smile on his face Esthar extended a hand and clasped arms with him embracing him, then he turned to Debby and repeated the process. “It’s good to see you all. I trust that you have prepared the traps like I asked?” he asked looking to TJ. “Yes Esthar I completed them early with Debby’s help.” TJ said looking to Debby with a smile. Debby returned the smile and looked around the bar. “Where is the rest of the team?” she asked looking back to Esthar again. “That’s a good question. I was just about to go and find them all when you two walked in.” Esthar said. Debby took TJ’s hand and smiled. “Well if you’re looking for them then we’ll help you find them. You have your radio right?” Debby asked pulling hers out of her pocket. Esthar smiled and took his own out. “Of course I’ve got my radio I’m the commander of this unit.” He said calling “Report” into the speaker phone and setting it on the table to wait for a response. Within a few seconds all of his warriors reported their positions and what they were doing over the radio one at a time just like he had taught them. He smiled again; the thought of having a highly organized team to back him up if anything should go wrong in the next fight was encouraging. He knew that he could count on them when he had to fix another light. Unlike his father’s team Esthar’s team fought the Vampires anywhere and everywhere regardless of whether there was a broken light or not. In the past the only time Jacob’s squad would mobilize was when the Vampires broke one of the lights which back then was pretty often due to some power issues with the bulbs. The glass was so thin in those days that it would shatter into daggers if someone poked it with the sharp end of a feather. Esthar looked around the bar once again and his eyes hovered over one of the waitresses. She had brown hair that went halfway down her back and a face that reminded him of Indian mixed with some Caucasian. When she looked up her blue eyes shown in the low light of the bar and they moved to meet his own. For a moment their eyes locked together and held for a couple of seconds, but she quickly looked away making little glances towards him as she worked. He turned back to the table to find Debby staring at him a smile across her face. He began to wonder if she had seen him staring at the girl, the thought was embarrassing. His face reddened and he looked away and back out towards the girl who was standing in a doorway staring at him. Smiling he looked back to the others who were sitting at the table.

    Esthar talked for a little while letting those around him know how proud of them he was and retelling the battles of the previous weeks. “So you are the guys who defend us?” a female voice asked from behind Esthar. He quickly stopped talking and turned to see where the voice came from. When he saw who it was he smiled, it was the waitress. “Sorry to interrupt, but I overheard your stories.” She said pulling up another chair. Her uniform was unkempt and she looked tired but her eyes still shown as they had when Esthar had first seen her and he was drawn to them looking at her. She looked back at him and blinked a few times causing him to blink as well. He looked away for a second speechless; he wanted to talk to her but for the first time in a long time he couldn’t make himself talk. He fumbled in his mind for the right words, but gave up and looked down. The others stayed silent watching Esthar and waiting for him to say something. He sat for a minute the silence stretching longer and longer, he shook his head and looked up at her again. “Yes we are the ones who fight to keep you all safe.” He said smiling. “Let me introduce you. This,” he said pointing to TJ and Debby. “Is TJ, and this is Debby. These guys are Tony and Bobby.” He said pointing to the other two fighters who were there. All of them had at least one weapon on them and they were probably pretty intimidating. She didn’t seem to care though and she smiled shaking each person’s hand as Esthar named them out for her. When he was finished he explained that there were a few more but that they were in other parts of the city with their families. He finished telling her about his team and he let the rest of them talk skipping his own introduction intentionally. She looked at him but listened to the men talk about how valiant they were and the battles that they had won by the skin on their fingers. She wondered why he hadn’t introduced himself and tried to make a name for him examining his face and the way he acted. She could see that he liked her and was nervous around her and the thought amused her somewhat. He was definitely not the most attractive young man, his hazel eyes framed by his short dirty blonde hair. He was well built and not very tan due to the fact that he spent most of his time outside when it was dark fighting inside the UV lights. He didn’t have the best teeth some of them were misaligned but his smile could still make someone blush if he wanted it to. Overall he looked like the type of guy who would have a staring contest with the devil and win. The thought made her uncomfortable but the softness of his demeanor changed her thought pattern and she remembered why she had approached the group. “I want to fight.” She said calmly.

    All conversation at the table stopped and everyone looked at her. “My name is Krystle, I’m sorry that I didn’t introduce myself earlier, but I want to fight. I can’t stand sitting around in my home and waiting to die anymore.” She said looking to Esthar. Based on his earlier conversation she knew that he was in charge of their group but she didn’t know what kind of reaction that he would have to her demand. Once again everyone looked to Esthar; being a part of such a small team they all knew that they could use the help. Esthar looked at her and his eyebrows furrowed making it obvious that he was thinking. He looked to the rest of his team seeking a yes or a no but they just waited silently forcing him to make a decision. He looked back to her again and searched her eyes trying to read her qualities. Unable to find anything to go by he smiled causing his face to resume its normal look. “Ok, as I’m sure you know, we need the help. Although, my main concern, is whether you can defend yourself in a fight and I’m not going to say that yes until you show me that you can. I believe that we are going to have to train you. So yes you can fight alongside us, but, only after you complete the training and show me that you are not going to die in the first night on my team.” He said looking to his team for the next part. “Therefore, since we need the help as quickly as possible I suggest that we start training her now. What do you say guys?” he asked grinning at them. They seemed satisfied so he motioned for them all to get up and stood up as well. “Whenever you’re ready Krystle you can meet us in the center of town at the training facility that we’ve made. We have some setting up to do before tonight so be there in about an hour.” He said. She shrugged and untucked her shirt. “OK, I’ll see you there in an hour.” She said and began to leave. Esthar watched her go and then turned to the rest of the group. “Well guys looks like our luck might be improving a few more people like that and we’ll be better off than the other teams. You know what we have to do.” He said as he reached for his radio. Pressing the talk button he began telling his men to prepare for the coming darkness. Taking his finger off the button he slipped the radio back into its pouch and watched as they all began to leave. “TJ, Debby, if you could go and make sure that no one has set off any of your traps then I would feel a little more at ease. I think I’m going to do a little bit of preparation down at the training center so when you’re done checking the traps I expect both of you to be there.” He said and they both nodded an affirmative. Esthar walked them out of the bar and clasped hands with TJ before they left. “Both of you be safe. I can’t have you dying in your own traps now.” He said. This caused them all to start grinning.

    When they had left Esthar had headed straight for the training center creating new obstacles and making sure that everything would be ready for Krystal when she got there. He looked up finally when the light began to change and noticed that TJ and Debby were sitting on the bleachers that surrounded the training grounds. He waved to them and noticed the time on his watch, forty-five minutes had already gone by and he hadn’t even noticed. Shaking his head he headed towards them walking around the fence and then ascending the stairs to their row. He sat down with them sweat trickling down his face now. With the sun starting to go down he wanted to go ahead and get to training but no one but those two had shown up yet. Being that no one had arrived he decided to wait and watch the sun go down looking around and taking in the spectacular changes in the scene. After the invention of the much larger and more concentrated UV lights the atmosphere had begun to change. This in itself had caused the clouds to turn a heavy hunter’s green and the sky to change to an interesting shade of purple. These changes made the sunset and rise even more magnificent due to the varied hues and shades that would come from this varied color scheme. Although it wouldn’t last for long he enjoyed the sight while it was there. When he looked back down again most of his men were walking up accompanied by Krystle. Seeing them all he stood noticing that only two of them weren’t present in the group. Esthar reached down for his radio getting ready to call the other two but stopped as he saw them coming over the hill behind the group. He looked down at his watch and smiled as its hands moved closer to the appointed time. They were all early including Krystle, to his surprise; they were normally right on time but not today. He moved out of the bleachers and went to the edge of the training grounds waiting for them to fall into their respective places. The group drew up and began to organize themselves into two lines. Knowing that Esthar would want them to go ahead and start their training. TJ and Debbie also made their way into the lines and helped Krystle find her spot. The lines were Esthar’s way of grouping partners for training and now that they had Krystle both lines ended evenly. This would allow Esthar to watch his team as they trained and to help Krystle get to the same point as quickly as possible. He sent the first two of his men onto the mats and told them to begin sparing. As they started he sent another group onto the mats and they set up across the mats from the other team and on his command they ran to the other group and attacked them as if they were Vampires. This wasn’t the usual manner of training but they needed to know how to fight off more than one opponent and to switch between them. As an opening would present itself they would attack one of the other three and force him into a defensive fighting style again. Slowly Esthar would add in another pair and then another pair until it was an all out battlefield on the mats. Knowing that Krystle was new he didn’t send her or Debby into the fight. “Debby I’m going to need you to help train Ms. Krystle so if you would take her to find a comfortable weapon and meet me back here when you’re done, I’d appreciate it.” He said watching the field of fighters. Debby nodded and turned to leave motioning Krystle to follow her. As they left Esthar saw TJ and Ronnie successfully fighting back to back against five others. This really made Esthar kind of nervous because he had been a part of just such a scenario just last year and it hadn’t turned out well for either his friend or himself. Esthar had gotten the scar that now adorned his chest and the other man had lost two fingers. Needless to say he was proud that they were successful but he didn’t want to have it happen again. “STOP!” he roared walking towards the mats. “TJ, Ronnie, come here!” he called stopping as the clanging blades and the ragged breathing of his men stopped.
    TJ and Ronnie approached Esthar knowing full well what he was calling them over for. Before they could get to him there was a loud pop and the lights came on all around the field because of the descending sun. It made them jump but they continued towards Esthar until he raised a hand telling them to stop. He approached them then and stopped before them, agitation on his face. He looked like he was ready to explode but it was obvious that he was thinking about something, what that was no one would be able to guess. His face softened for a moment and he reached to his shirt and undid its buttons sliding it off, revealing the scar that stretched from his right shoulder to the left part of his waist. As he dropped his shirt to the ground he looked to the two, their eyes wide with wonder. “This is the result of the last back-to-back fight that I was in. I do not recommend doing that again.” He said his glare softening. He turned around to get his shirt again and saw that Krystle and Debby were standing there staring at him. Krystle held a standard longsword with slight backward curve, it was an attractive weapon but it looked like she would have trouble wielding it. Esthar thought for a moment and remembered that TJ and Ronnie were still standing there. He turned to them once again expectant looks on their faces. “TJ, Ronnie….You obviously know how to keep track of your opponents and your teammates at the same time. That is a quality in itself that I would expect all of my men to know. You not only know it, but you can use it to your advantage better than even me. My pride tells me that I should punish you for that but I know better.” He said raising his voice so that everyone could hear. “From here on out you will all report to these two men if you have any concerns in regards to your training. TJ, Ronnie you are to begin training them as of now I’m going to start Krystle’s training with Debby’s help so I need you guys to keep them in shape. Understood?” he ordered lowering his voice so that only the two of them could hear him. “Don’t disappoint me now guys……Well? What are you waiting for?” He said and raised his hands into the air. Still shirtless he turned to Krystle and Debby again listening as TJ and Ronnie ran back to the group and began giving orders for more training. He smiled at the girls and grabbed his shirt up off of the ground. Debby had seen the scar before but she had never gotten used to it being there and couldn’t help but stare. Krystle who had never seen the scar also stared but with as much surprise as respect. The stares made him somewhat uncomfortable so he slipped the shirt back on and buttoned it up again hiding the scar once again. “Well Debby, how did she do when you had her try out this weapon?” he asked looking at both of them. Debby shook herself and tried to regain her composure again. “Uh, she did better with this weapon than with any of the others.” She said smiling. “Well I guess that’s a good thing then.” He said and motioned for them to go to another part of the field. They walked quickly trying to get Krystle’s training started so that they would hopefully be able to use her by the next raid.
    When they arrived at the sparring station Esthar led the girls into the center of the field and put Krystle there in the center. When she was in place he went to the side of the field and grabbed a large plate metal piece of armor and slipped it on over his chest. He then walked back to the circle and stopped about four feet from Krystle and raised his arms. “Now what I want you to do is swing at me with all of your strength but stop the blade before it hits me. Understand?” he said examining her response. She flinched at the thought of swinging a blade at him. “You want me to swing a longsword at you with all of my strength and then to stop it before it hits you?” she asked in disbelief. “Exactly.” Esthar said in a calm and authoritative voice. She could feel his confidence and decided that it would be alright. Bending her knees she stepped forward and swung the blade at his midsection. What followed was a loud clang as the sword smashed into the metal armor on his waist. The sound of the impact scared her and the force of the recoil on the blade hurt her hands. She dropped the blade to the mats still staring at Esthar. The force behind the blow had almost picked him up off of the ground and there was now a dent in the side of the armor. He stooped over holding his side, red faced. “I’m so sorry! Are you ok?” she said afraid to get any closer. Debby ran over asking the same question and was stopped by a raised hand from Esthar. “I’m fine but I think I’ll have a nice bruise when I get up tomorrow.” He said with a little bit of a smile on his face. He looked at Krystle. “Good God Krystle! Where did you get that kind of strength? Did you even try to stop the blade?” he asked jokingly. Feeling terrible about hitting him tears began to form in her eyes and she lowered her head. “No I didn’t. I’m so sorry.” She said. Seeing her tears Esthar straightened up and moved towards her. Placing one hand on her shoulder he lifted her chin with his other hand. “Look at me, you did good. I would expect you to do exactly that if you were to be fighting a Vampire, do you understand? You’re not the only one of my trainees that has hit me.” He said smiling. “But if I see you crying when you hurt your first Vampire I think you might have to go back home.” He said seriously stepping back again and holding his arms out. “Now do it again but stop the blade this time.” He said bracing himself. Somewhat encouraged by his words she reluctantly grabbed the blade up off of the ground again and positioned herself to swing. “Now try and swing softer but with just as much speed so that you can control it better hitting a Vampire in the waist won’t kill it, aim higher.” He said raising his arms higher. Krystle nodded and swung her blade slowly behind her and then stepped forward swinging the blade again and keeping her grip loose and slowing her swing as she went. A sharp clang sounded as the blade dinked off of the armor again, although softer this time. Esthar smiled again. “Better now do it again and keep your grip strong it helps to reduce the recoil and to give you more control over your weapon.” He said bracing himself again. Krystle stepped back and positioned her weapon behind her again. She quickly stepped forward and with a tightened grip stopped the blade less than an inch from his chest. “Good! Now try an overhead swing to my shoulder and do the same thing.” He said spreading his legs and tucking his arms in to his side for her to try again. She was getting more comfortable with the blade and felt confident enough that she could do it again, so she stepped back and swung again successfully stopping the weapon before it hit his shoulder. Esthar smiled again. “You’re a fast learner, that’s good. How comfortable do you feel with that weapon?” he asked beginning to remove the plate metal armor. Debby walked over and helped him raising the armor up over his head and carrying it over to the rack again. Esthar turned to Krystle and untied his lance swinging it in front of him. “Now for the next part of your training, defense, are you ready?” he asked. She smiled confidently and nodded her reply to him. He smiled back and twirled the blade into a flurry again. “Then block my attacks.” He said and began swinging his weapon at her and stopping it before it could hit her on the times when she could not block his blows. Overall she did very well for her first time using this blade and she learned quickly after a few taps on the shoulder with his blade. He was certainly running her through her training very quickly that much was for sure and she seemed to be able to cope with his methods very well.
    By about four a.m. she had advanced again to the point to where she could spar with Debby and almost keep up. She is certainly a fast learner, I wish that Tammy was that fast. Esthar thought, remembering how long he had tried to train his wife to fight. In the end she had given up trying to fight back and sat at home watching their two kids. He was satisfied with her doing that but he really wished that she could be able to defend herself if anything should ever happen and he not be able to be there. Should something like that ever happen he would expect someone to come back and help her to hide the children. He had made some very serious arrangements with some of his neighbors in the chance that he should die while defending their lives. They had agreed to take care of his kids and his wife if something should happen so he knew that he could go out into the field and fight knowing that everything would be alright even if he were to be killed. He thought back about noon when he had woke up next to her. He had stared into her deep blue eyes for what seemed like an eternity before kissing her delicately and stroked her beautiful brown hair. He was always reluctant to leave her but he knew that he had a job to do and so did she so she let him go. Without him a lot more damage would have already been done and more than likely more people would have been killed if he hadn’t learned how to fix the lights. The clang of swords clashing brought him back to the sparring field again and he watched as Debby unleashed a quick flurry with her scimitar styled sword and to his surprise Krystle jumped back and slid the blunt side of her longsword across Debby’s side. Both girls’ eyes widened as they realized what had just happened. Esthar smiled and stood clapping for Krystle and began walking towards them. “That is more than enough training for today. You’re obviously a natural with a blade so I think that we can go back to the group now. It’s been a good day and it looks like we are not going to be attacked so we should be ok for today.” He said motioning for them to follow him back to where the others were. They quickly tied their weapons down and started jogging so that they could catch up to him. Debby looked over to Krystle with a very measuring look. She was just as surprised by what had happened in their sparring match as Krystle and Esthar had been, to say the least it unnerved her. She looked ahead again as Krystle felt her stare and looked over. The thought of being beat by a new person shocked her and she wasn’t sure if she should be happy or let her pride take over and be angry. She looked over again to find Krystle still looking at her. “Are you ok?” Krystle asked slowing her pace to a walk so that she didn’t pass Esthar. Debby also slowed her pace and looked away from her. “I don’t know yet I can’t say that I’ve ever been beat like that by anyone but Esthar.” She said smiling a little. Esthar laughed. “Come on now Debby it wasn’t that bad. It’s a great thing that she can strategize her attacks better than most. It wouldn’t have happened if you had known that she could. Don’t let it get to you, ok?” he said looking out over the field TJ and Ronnie were wrapping their training sessions up as well so he took the girls to the hill that surrounded the training grounds and sent them home. “I’ll see you both tomorrow at the same time alright? Go get some sleep and have some fun when you get up tomorrow, life isn’t all training.” He said as he waved them on. He turned back to the field once they were gone and sat down in the bleachers. His thoughts went back to his Tammy and he smiled and waited for TJ and Ronnie to send the men home.