Felix Fount gazed upon the void of darkness which constituted Hallow Haven's equivalent of a sun from the window of the dining room. Its light blanketed the Fount family estate in grey, along with the rest of the realm.
It was a sight that he would likely gaze upon for the final time, his 18th birthday having occurred months ago, which meant he was one of the many embarking on “The Trek.”
He sighed deeply; his pale hands were jittering more than he would like to admit, light sweat forming beneath his black, messy mop of hair. The horror stories of many who made it back from The Trek were harrowing.
Tales of the species that inhabited the realm called “Humans,” who hunted Monsterkin mercilessly with supernatural weapons and techniques that could more than match their own.
He was more fortunate than most, sure. Vampires were often a favoured species in terms of survival rates, due to their combination of power, abilities, and intelligence, as well as their visually similar appearance to humans providing camouflage, making them well-rounded for The Trek.
Even then, it seemed like fewer and fewer of them made it back year after year, the efficiency of their hunters improving constantly.
He recalled his education at Nightshear Academy, a significant portion of which was spent preparing for their inevitable fight for survival.
“On the 1st day of the 10th month, all monsterkin who are in their 18th year of life shall be transported without fail to the other world. It will be instant, a mere blink of the eye, and you shall be there in a location unfamiliar to you. The goal is simple: make your way around that world looking for the gateway which shall return you to Hallow Haven once more. The Gateway’s location is random every Trek, and it shall only remain open until the end of the 31st night. May the white light of the moon guide your safe return.”
Footsteps interrupted Felix’s thoughts, his mother, Countess Maria Fount, standing behind him, tears in her eyes, dripping down onto her pitch black dress.
“My Son…” she wrapped her arms around him tightly as she did the day he was born.
“Hey, Mom, you completed the Trek, right? I’ll do it as well, n-no problem.” His voice couldn’t help but crack, unable to maintain the facade that everything would be fine.
She looked up, their red eyes meeting each other.
“P-please, Felix, whatever you do, don't pick fights with the humans or other Monsterkin, find the gateway and come back to me as fast as possible.”
They'd always been close; she was his only family, his father, another vampire had passed away during the same Trek his mother survived, and apparently, he'd been conceived out there in the human world during that Trek.
She never married or had more children afterward. Many considered this a shame; her beauty was second to none among Vampires, and yet few faulted her. More children meant more suffering and loss when the 10th month came to claim each of them.
“I will, Mom, I promise.”
She released her hold and backed up hesitantly.
"Tomorrow is the day, I have some gifts for you, Felix, to bring with you, to help.”
With a snap of her fingers, several bat familiars carted in three items. Lying them upon the long table in the center of the dining room.
First was a black overcoat with red and white highlights running along the sleeves.
“This coat is made of Nethermorphic Fabric. It will shield you from any environmental elements as well as reduce the impact of attacks, both blunt and piercing.”
Next was a tiny blue pendant which could easily be tucked into a pocket or hung around the neck with its silver chain.
“This is an enchanted artifact that will glow red when near those with killing intent. It will warn you when danger is near.”
Finally, there was a sword, the blade a glossy crimson hue.
“This is a mighty weapon passed down through the Fount family. We call it The Fang. We vampires are empowered by blood to call upon our many abilities, as you know. With this sword, any blood drawn from an enemy with its cuts will be siphoned and distributed into your body through the hilt, allowing you to remain energized if the worst comes to pass. You must defend yourself; you can do so without needing to get too close for a bite, as is traditional.”
Felix picked up The Fang in his hand. He could tell the blade was far above the craftsmanship of the borrowed swords used in drills at the academy. It felt oddly right, holding it, as if it was something he was meant to do.
“I used the blade in my Trek as my father did before me, and his mother before him. I hope it guides your safe return as it did ours.”
With a nod, she had another familiar hand him the sheath for the blade, an ornate thing which carried the strong scent of Wraithwood, the finest lumber Hallow Haven could offer. He holstered it at his side, put the blue pendant around his neck and slipped into the overcoat, his ensemble complete.
“Please…enjoy your last day at the academy with your friends.”
There was a tension in Countess Maria’s words; of course, she wanted as much time with her son as possible lord how she did, but the final preparations and planning he would be put through at Nightshear would serve to better the chances she would lay eyes on him again.
Felix gave her one last hug.
“I swear I'll make it back, so don't cry, this isn't goodbye, I promise.”
They shared the silence of an embrace a while longer, a promise with no true guarantee of being kept, lingering between them.
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“Are you coping well, Lix?”
“I told you never to call me that.”
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Leo stuck his tongue out in mock jest. They'd been best friends as long as Felix could recall, his lackadaisical attitude serving as a surprising source of distraction from the fate that awaited them all in just a matter of hours.
“Look at you all fitted out in that fancy ass gear, my family could only give me this little dagger that can channel electricity, gotta save some stuff for my little bro and sis in a few years y’know.”
Felix couldn't help a frown; it was an obvious sight, gazing around the room, that some families didn't have the resources to outfit their children before their Trek. Some had nothing special at all, their unique powers being the sole hope for survival.
“We can't all be like Alex Tepes, you know.”
His gaze fell into the corner where Alexander Tepes leaned oh so casually against the wall, talking to his posse of bootlickers, looking to pay lip service to a member of the most illustrious house vampire society had ever known. Maybe if they were lucky, he'd share with them a technique or minor relic that the Tepes had in ample supply.
The Tepes family were near flawless in performance during the Trek, in terms of survival as well as slaughtering humans, they were the greatest any monsterkin, not just vampires, had ever seen. Alex had already bragged about how he would bring multiple rings with the fingers of the humans he killed attached as trophies. Sadism naturally also seemed to run in the Tepes household.
He had the equipment to back up his talk; the legendary Stake of Vlad, said to be in his possession, could rend the earth apart with a mere gesture and was said to be able to wither and kill anyone pricked by its tip in an instant.
“At least I'm better off than a minotaur or a sasquatch might be.”
Leo’s interjection snapped Felix out of his focused thoughts.
“Poor things don't even have a thought process I'm pretty sure, who knows how the hell any have even survived The Trek.”
Indeed, Nightshear Academy was only available to the sapient among Monsterkin and was highly segregated between species due to historic tensions at that. Felix had never even passed by a Goblin or an Ogre in the hallways, powerful magics keeping them invisible and untouchable to one another.
“Evolution and instinct, probably? The same reason our kind doesn't burn beneath the yellow orb in the humans' sky anymore, all monsterkin have evolved in their own ways over the centuries to survive the Trek best, you are paying attention in class, aren't you?”
The relatively light voice of Emily Sequin chimed into the conversation.
She was a dainty thing; one would find it hard to believe she was at the top of the class in both knowledge and physical performance. Her platinum blonde hair flowed to mid-length around her shoulders, her fancy, pure white coat flowing into a set of dressy pants. She made up the last member of their circle, some of their classmates had dubbed ‘The Terrible Trio’.
“Yeah, of course I'm paying attention! Knowing a lot of this shit is our only chance of making it back alive!”
Leo responded incredulously to Emily’s jab, his hand running through his spiky brown hair, an unconscious tic he acquired at some point.
“Honestly, it's things like mathematics and economics. I don't understand why they teach us that, it ain't going to help once we're out there.”
“It's…because those of us who survive need to know these things, they’ll be the ones coming back to make up society and prepare the next generation.”
Felix answered, re-entering himself into the conversation. His friends' faces softened somewhat, their light banter forgotten.
“Alright, class, you are dismissed now,” came the voice of their teacher, Ms. Carmilla.
“You are free to help yourself to any of the facilities for the next while you have before…your Trek,”
She gazed forlornly upon her students, many of whom she would never see again.
“May the white light of the moon guide your safe return.”
“Thank you, Ms. Carmilla!” The class responded in unison.
She smiled, her eyes beginning to water; no matter how many graduating classes she said goodbye to, the process became no easier as the years went on.
The students began filing out, their graduation officially complete, destiny now awaiting them.
“Would you two…care to meet me on the rooftop?” Emily asked, her violet eyes averted elsewhere in contemplation.
“Actually, I'm going to visit my siblings a few classes down, last chance for goodbye, I'm sure you two can figure something out even without the presence of yours truly.”
Leo elbowed Felix lightly in the ribs, a wink and whisper to go with it.
“Now's your chance, Lix, now or never.”
Subtlety was not Leo’s particular forte; long had he been trying to play matchmaker between Felix and Emily since he caught Felix’s tone with her compared to others.
Felix had admitted it to him in private that he did harbour feelings, but felt that such things would be a distraction on the Trek, and there was no guarantee they would see each other again beyond their academy life. This didn't deter Leo, only emboldened his push for them.
With that, Leo zipped out of the classroom, not letting another word in edgewise, leaving Emily and Felix in the now-empty classroom. Felix glanced at her, their eyes now meeting directly.
“I'll meet you there in a moment.”
“Come prepared.”
Before he could ask what she meant, she too had vacated the room, leaving him alone in quiet contemplation.
————————
Felix arrived at the top of the academy, which was a wide open area surrounded by the spiralling towers of the building’s foundations. At the edge of which stood Emily, her hair and coat flowing in the light breeze, gazing upon the expanse of dark brown fields which surrounded the academy grounds as far as the eye could see.
“Felix Fount…draw your weapon,” came her voice, gentle as ever, yet still filled with a hardened resolve. Her rapier, thin and sharp, glowed at her side.
Slowly, she turned around to face him, expression unreadable.
“One last duel between us…I need to see that you are ready for what awaits.”
He wanted to say something to her, anything, but he knew better than to do so; when Emily made up her mind, she was an immovable bastion. He drew The Fang from his side, the crimson blade cutting through the air; one could swear it naturally angled itself to point directly at the rapier, a challenge between weapons in defence of their masters.
Wordlessly, Emily seemed to glide forward with uncanny speed, closing the distance immediately!
The rapier whizzed past Felx’s head. He had managed to crane his neck out of the way in the nick of time, his following counter slash finding nothing but air as Emily backflipped out of his range!
They slowly circled one another, evaluating any openings the other had in their technique. Simultaneously, they stepped forward to attack, their blades clashing directly time after time in a continuous motion of assault and parrying, small sparks erupting from the repeated collisions!
A slash from The Fang opened up a cut on Emily’s cheek; she ducked under the follow-up. In a flash, her rapier’s tip flew into Felix’s shoulder, the impact so great the air behind him visibly distorted!
However, his black overcoat had prevented the rapier from breaking the skin; the pointy tip visibly struggled and twitched against the fabric.
Reflexively, Felix kicked her in the midsection, sending her sliding backward, dust from the stone slabs beneath them erupting on each side of Emily from the friction of her feet trailing the ground!
Slowly, she skidded to a stop a fair distance away. She looked up towards him, steel in her eyes. The cut on her cheek was already sealing itself from her impressive vampiric regeneration.
They had duels against one another before as part of classes, but none that reached this degree of physicality. She raised her hand forward, closing it into a fist.
Instantly, a sharp pain flowed into Felix’s right leg, a dark spike of energy piercing through the muscle and holding him in place, blood dripping from the fresh wound!
It originated from his own shadow on the ground, an enchantment Emily must have cast in the briefest moments before he knocked her backward.
She leaped into the air and descended with incredible momentum towards him, her rapier aimed for his head! In a desperate act which surprised even him, he stopped the attack with his own hand, the rapier piercing cleanly through his palm!
She hovered there briefly in the air like that, time seeming frozen for this moment. Then it flowed once more.
Upon her descent he caught her across the stomach with a clean cut, a splattering of her blood now covering the roof's stones!
They both stood motionless for a while longer before Emily lowered her weapon.
“It's your victory, if I were many other creatures, including those humans, that would be the end of me.”
The spike from Felix’s shadow retreated out of his leg, vanishing to the reflection whence it came. Already the boons of The Fang were evident, the blood he’d drawn from the last attack flowing into him from the hilt and greatly accelerating the healing of the wounds in his leg and palm he’d just freshly received.
One could be fooled; he'd never been in a duel in the first place within a scant few seconds. Emily’s healing took a bit longer, but within the minute her wound had closed as well. Once they caught their breath, Felix took the chance to finally talk with words rather than blades
“So you wanted me and Leo up here to put us through the paces one more time?”
“Yes, the battles which await us will be as brutal as that and then some…next time we fight someone, be it human or Monsterkin, will be to the death. It’s the harsh hand we've been dealt.”
Together they walked to the edge of the roof gazing upon their homeland for the last time.
“I-I don’t know if we’ll see each other again…” Felix began, his voice was shaky, time running short to say his peace.
He glanced towards her, her eyes locked towards the distance were intense with focus that made him think better than to burden her with his feelings.
“Good luck out there Emily.” he finished, hoping to seal away those emotions into a crevice deep in his heart and soul.
“You too Felix…” her following exhalation was deep as she turned to face him, a wistful smile crossing her frequently stoic face.
“I have to say it…theres no more chances…” his heart picked up again, surely she didn’t-
“I love you Felix.”
Then the scenery changed faster than comprehension could keep up, he was completely alone in some woodland area, the pale human moon now gazing down on him.
The Trek had begun in earnest.
