It happened in a moment. Time froze and resumed. That was the spark, a single moment and many dead already. Our minor rebellion did not have a great start. And just as Calraz bellowed a war cry, tears streaming down his face, did we act? I sent a few messages to my companions — a quick new plan. Not exactly my best plan, but with the incoming enemies, our allies either mad with bloodlust or mind-controlled, we had little in the way of options. So it was charge and hope we don't die. Because escape was a no-go, as my senses told us, there was incoming behind us. We were saved as the enemies hadn't arrived yet, though they would surround us.

  "Rak, cover fire, aim everything at that bastard. I'll get Doctore out of the way." I ordered, and he nodded without question.

  In a flash, he withdrew his crossbow and began peppering the vampire. Bolts streaked beside the charging Calraz, stopping just short of the vampire, who casually redirected them with a wave of his hand. One of them went straight for my head, and I returned telekinesis with kinetic power. Waving my hand as if to mock his own attempts at being cool, I blocked the incoming. Nothing fancy, just waved the bolt away, no redirection.

  I hurled a force blast at the stunned Volkaran and sent him flying after taking care of that. The vampire just casually watched his mind-controlled minion go flying before shrugging. In the next instant, Calraz was upon him, his crimson blade arching through the air. It glowed red as the Garathi warrior roared an attack.

  "Blood Slice!"

  Using what I expected to be a martial skill or perhaps an enchantment on the weapon, it pulsed red before sending a wave of crimson energy. It cut across the sands like an ethereal blade; three in total traversed the distance. In that moment, I blinded the smug vampire, projecting darkness over his eyes. He frowned and then looked puzzled as blood blades met flesh. They sliced through his clothes and into his body, sending splashes of blood in all directions.

  Calraz followed suit and thrust his weapon up into the vampire's gut. For a moment I thought we had won and then realised that was foolish. He was a vampire, and that was not the heart. Actually, stabbing the heart was best, since it paralysed vampires. Thank you, Lich, and your library. Calraz seemed like a powerful warrior with a cool blood sword, but he didn't know crap about vampires.

  "Stab the heart!" I called out, and instantly the blind vampire's eyes locked onto me.

  Frozen in place, I worried he had already figured out the blinding effect and dismissed it. No, he did not lock his eyes on me. Damn vampire senses! I cursed in my mind and went full power on this dude. Calraz seemed to hear me and tried to withdraw his sword. As fast as Quicksilver, the vampire seized the Garathi by the wrist and easily overpowered the giant stone man. With a soft grunt of pain, he and the sword emerged from his gut, ready to return the favour.

  Only a few metres away, I saw the vampire plunge his stolen blade into Calraz's chest. The Garathi called upon his ancestral power of stone. It was of no use. The vampire plunged the blade with no visible strain. It was easy for him, stone skin be damned. I didn't know this Calraz, but he seemed like an honourable fellow. He didn't deserve to be treated like this.

  "Take this!" I screamed, drawing upon my force aura.

  The blast wasn't full power, not even half, but it was enough to send the unprepared vampire flying. I didn't have time to savour my victory as we had a man down. So I went all Saving Private Ryan on his ass, pulling him out of the flames. I gripped my injured comrade by the arms and sped him away. I again give thanks to my high attributes for the power of super strength.

  Calraz grunted, clutching his bloody stomach. I hesitated, halfway into my bag, ready to extract a healing potion, my last one. It lasted only for a moment before I dropped the vial into his free hand. He looked at me, eyes wide, confused and hazy. Probably perplexed about why someone would just hand life-saving medicine to a stranger.

  "Heal up; you have friends to avenge." And that was all I said as I jumped back into the battle.

  Returning, I found a mass of Volkarans pouring out from two entrances. Not too many, but enough to make this battle a slog. Glancing at Marius, I gave him a nod, and he began his spellsong. The familiar music flowed perfectly from his mouth, calling the dead to action. Xyn turned to face the oncoming horde while Rak sped towards his fallen friend, losing bolts at every enemy in sight. Jeremy leapt from Marius's shoulder and hissed at the army.

  At least some enemies were occupied. As the vampire floated casually with murder in his eyes, I stepped towards the vampire lord. Activating my Aetherblade with a thought as ghostly figures rose around me. I glanced at a few and noticed they were very familiar. And every single one of them glared daggers at the pompous vampire. Every Garathi he killed now stood as spectres of vengeance, eager to set upon their killer. Only something else tugged at their undead hearts. The call of their summoner as they turned from their murderer and sped towards the incoming horde. A vanguard of ghostly apparitions ran past me, ethereal weapons raised. I remained to watch the vampire glare down at me, ready to clash at a moment's notice.

  "You are the Black Gale?" he questioned.

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  "The who?" I said, confused.

  With weapons raised, our eagerness for battle was like a bow drawn back to its limit and ready to lose. In that moment, we glared at each other, and confusion faded to the background, localizing eternity. The vampire shrugged, a very human gesture. I wonder if he was human once. However, he was a bloodthirsty vampire now who had likely butchered many to reach his level. I was barely half his level and prepared to fight him one on one.

  He grinned; that knowing smile made my eyes wide. It was exactly the savage grin he gave Calraz right before he... the ground rumbled as a spike of blood emerged beneath my feet. On reflex, I leapt into the air, far higher than I was physically capable. The blood spike ascended, chasing me but stopping just short of where the sun doesn't shine. My heart was racing; fear took me in waves. My breathing was intense and rapid, but slowed eventually as I descended. The blood spike withdrew back into the sands.

  "Well done. Are you ready for my next attack?" He sneered.

  "I was made ready." I shot back, trying to channel a certain vampire hunter.

  "Made?" he looked puzzled. "So was I."

  His eyes narrowed, a knowing grin etched across his face just as his left hand twitched ever so slightly. Feeling an attack from multiple directions, in a split second I made a hasty decision. Activating my unleash aura skill at low power, I blasted away the several blood spikes coming from the front and back. Roaring against the attack, I deflected every spike with my will alone. As the dust settled, I turned back to the vampire just as my feet touched sand.

  "Well done, I suppose the direct approach was in order."

  The vampire blurred, his moves so swift it was hard to even comprehend where he began and where he ended. In a flash he arrived, clawed hand reaching out across the chasm that lay before us, reaching for my neck. Just as his claws brushed against the skin, I drew again on my power and blasted everything in front of me. It was not a full unleashing, just a high-cost force blast, directed in a wide area in front of me.

  Instead of being set flying, he casually leapt into the air, twirled around like an acrobat and landed behind me. Just as his feet met sand, I blasted forward, trying to make some distance. Glancing back, I sent another blinding prompt, which he easily dismissed.

  "How are doing that?" He slowed down, tilted his head, perplexed.

  "That's a secret, dude." I replied.

  "I suppose I can pry the knowledge out of your skull!" he hissed, fangs bared and eyes glowing.

  [Mental interference detected!]

  Oh, crap, he is compelling! Those thoughts raced through my mind as everything went dim for a moment. The world around me faded into a pastel, grey, and lifeless state. Only he was bright and glorious. It was only natural for one such as I to kneel to his magnificence and obey his every word. Just as I was about to debase myself, I heard the sound. It pounded on the door of my mind, desperately demanding my attention. What were that rhythmic sound and that voice calling me away from his magnificence? It was so familiar and joyous that for a moment I turned away, even though I didn't want to. Yes, I knew this sound, this song. Wake me up before you go-go by Wham! Oh George, you are my saviour. And as the chorus rang true, I returned to my senses with a savage grin. Ready to kill this prick with everything I had. He looked relaxed, probably assumed his mental attack worked, but as the music played in my head. I proved him wrong as a flask made its way into my hand.

  "Suck it, dude, prepare to meet the Flash!" I drank down way too much espresso before a thought sent Wham! across the battlefield.

  The vampire's eye widened as the energetic voice of Goeorge Micheal himself told everyone to wake up! Which I did, I woke up and no sleep will ever touch me again! So fueled with energy I was about to burst, veins bulged and my head was beating like a drum. I don't think I have ever drunk this much all at once. Oh, I am going to crash hard later. Shaking my head, which was a bad idea, I quickly settled into a fighting stance.

  "What is this infernal racket!" He cursed.

  "For that, you shall die! This is Goerge Micheal you uncultured swine!" I turned up the volume in his head to the max.

  Noticing a visible wince from his left eye, I knew I was getting to him, and so, for George, I shall smite thee. Weapon raised, I pumped every bit of energy into my legs and beat feet like the devil was chasing me. And that is a genuine fear since the devils actually exist. The world blurred as I force blasted the indistinct figure in front of me. Following through, I practically smashed through the vampire, only he was way more durable than I expected and blocked the super speed attack.

  Claws dug into my arms; somehow, he had wrapped those ungodly appendages around my outstretched limbs. Fine after I just went all Sonic on the guy. Grinning with fangs, he chuckled maliciously before his face pressed to my neck, ready to tear flesh. I just unleashed a force strike straight into his chest. He winced, but still no actual damage, so I hit him again and again. He jerked every time, still undeterred from taking my blood.

  Glancing around, I noticed my sword sprawled across the sands. I really needed to stop dropping that. But no matter how many times I hit him, he was only stunned for a moment. Until my energy drew down and his fangs sank deep into my neck. I screamed in pain. Yes, vampire bites hurt. The romance novels lied to me!

  This was bad. I needed to get this dude off of me before I was a bloodless corpse. With my sword nearby, I activated Force Attract and returned my blade to my free hand. Immediately I reactivated the blade and tried to stab the bastard in the heart. A sudden force gripped my arm, forcing it back, mere millimetres from his chest. Stuck and with a vampire literally gnawing at my neck, it seemed like this was the end. His power was too great; all of his attributes must be super high for him to shrug off most of my skills. Even hopped on Super Coffee, I was still too slow.

  With a gasp of air, the vampire recoiled from my neck, his face slick with my blood. Eyeing the frenzied vampire, I noticed my red blood was slightly sparkling with faint gold hues. My blood sparkled? I never noticed that. However, the effect on the vampire was tremendous as his eyes bulged, going full bloodshot and ravenous.

  "This... blood, it is like fire!"

  "Fire bad or fire good?" I grunted, his hand reached for my throat ceasing my question.

  "More!" he roared as if demanding my blood would see it his.

  Fortunately, the rush of whatever good stuff in that red liquid distracted him. I took the opportunity to Force Strike him in the face, sending him back, reeling. His grip loosened, and I made like the Road Runner and booked it. Only a few steps away and he was already hot on my trail, eyes crimson and feral glee on his face.

  "Crap!" I cursed as the world began to blur.

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