16. Not All That Glitters
Even though my motivation before had been mostly rage, this time I feel incited to impress the first-born here before I eliminate him. I want to show off, and out of conceit I have decided to destroy the score of vampires here by hand. Well, not quite, because I like the skills I've developed with the hoes as weapons. I am going to dice up everyone in here.
Standing by the gate that I kicked down, I pull out the hoes from their sheath that strapped to my back, slowly, and I start grinding one against the other in an unmistakable sharpening gesture. I take slow and deliberate steps, and when I cross the threshold, I order the spirit to spread its tentacles and shut off all windows and doors leading to the outside. We are set: unless they dig out a tunnel or they punch a hole through a wall no one will escape me.
I am counting on the millennial vampire's vanity to keep him here, without trying to escape, trusting that no other vampire except for Benjamin could possibly harm him. And I am counting on the hope that any other millennial vampire will be as relatively easy to harm as Imenand was.
I am advancing towards the group of vampires, walking at the normal speed of any live person, but there's something strange going on: All of them are standing, facing me in this lobby, and although the ones at the very front are completely terrified, not one of them has tried to escape yet. They seem to be ready to fight me as a group.
Bah! Let them try whatever they want, that I have gotten rid of even larger numbers.
Ah, I see…
They are grouped around the millennial vampire. They are like a troop of monkeys, with the least important ones on the periphery, and the higher ranking ones in the middle of the group. And I can see it in the minds of the rookies (who still can't disguise their thoughts) that they are all willing to be destroyed in order to protect… Well, that's weird… There is no name in their minds. It's only "Who I Will Protect."
No matter, I'm getting excited about having to hack my way through so many monsters with my hoes. But, before advancing, I realize that my powers have grown beyond my own understanding: I just locked up doors and windows with my mind, where as before I couldn't even pick up pebbles in the air. I immediately abandon my intentions of avoiding the use of magic… Let's find out what else I can do now.
I bend my concentration towards the yahoo closest to me and I make him rise up into the air with the power of the spirit. I make him float at a point between them and me, halfway up the lobby, and I keep him there, slowly twisting away for a few seconds while I make up my mind about what to do next.
With a smug grin on my face, I focus completely in picturing each cell of his body, with the fingers of the spirit grabbing hold of each one of them. When I can feel that everything is being held down, then I ask the spirit to pull away all those cells in different directions.
The noise heard is like a dozen bed sheets torn apart at the same time, a wet shattering, and hundreds of muted slaps. We are all stupefied to end up sprayed with microscopic vampire particles, and the entire lobby has been spray-painted with a light pink tone. The vampires all groan and yell out in fright, while I guffaw away like a loon. In none of the memories of Benjamin had I seen such a thing. I think that I have finally invented something new in this world of monsters.
I let the hoes clatter down to the floor, and once again I try the experiment. And again; and again; and by the fourth time around we are all dripping vampire chunks, and finally a few in the group try to fight me, while others try to escape. Those who come towards me in a flurry of teeth, punches, kicks, headbutts, knees, or whatever, are the ones easiest to deal with, because with my almost impenetrable body and my massive strength it's a simple matter to hit them with the edges of my hands to separate arms, legs, and heads from their bodies. In a flash, the quartet of vampires that decided to attack me lay at my feet, with their limbs and heads still rolling and bouncing off a few feet away. Those six that tried to escape are still pounding their fists against doors and windows, and I am surprised to realize how weak they are. The are hardly stronger than mere humans…
Not thinking too much about it, I decide to burn them with my mind. The dozen or so vampires that are left look around, everywhere at once, trying not to miss a single detail of the spectacle. They have a look of resolve, and I think that they realize very well that there is no escape and no way to avoid me doing to them whatever I feel like doing. In a moment of destroyer euphoria, I use my magic to fling all of them up to the roof and hold them there, while I make them burn like torches. A few seconds after I have ignited them, I also pulverize them, and all around there are small cascades of sputtering embers.
But…
There's a trio of vampires that remain in the middle of the lobby. Two of them kneeling down, one on each side of the most terrible and beautiful thing that I have ever seen:
They seem to be my wife, my son, and my daughter.
Even though my motivation before had been mostly rage, this time I feel incited to impress the first-born here before I eliminate him. I want to show off, and out of conceit I have decided to destroy the score of vampires here by hand. Well, not quite, because I like the skills I've developed with the hoes as weapons. I am going to dice up everyone in here.
Standing by the gate that I kicked down, I pull out the hoes from their sheath that strapped to my back, slowly, and I start grinding one against the other in an unmistakable sharpening gesture. I take slow and deliberate steps, and when I cross the threshold, I order the spirit to spread its tentacles and shut off all windows and doors leading to the outside. We are set: unless they dig out a tunnel or they punch a hole through a wall no one will escape me.
I am counting on the millennial vampire's vanity to keep him here, without trying to escape, trusting that no other vampire except for Benjamin could possibly harm him. And I am counting on the hope that any other millennial vampire will be as relatively easy to harm as Imenand was.
I am advancing towards the group of vampires, walking at the normal speed of any live person, but there's something strange going on: All of them are standing, facing me in this lobby, and although the ones at the very front are completely terrified, not one of them has tried to escape yet. They seem to be ready to fight me as a group.
Bah! Let them try whatever they want, that I have gotten rid of even larger numbers.
Ah, I see…
They are grouped around the millennial vampire. They are like a troop of monkeys, with the least important ones on the periphery, and the higher ranking ones in the middle of the group. And I can see it in the minds of the rookies (who still can't disguise their thoughts) that they are all willing to be destroyed in order to protect… Well, that's weird… There is no name in their minds. It's only "Who I Will Protect."
No matter, I'm getting excited about having to hack my way through so many monsters with my hoes. But, before advancing, I realize that my powers have grown beyond my own understanding: I just locked up doors and windows with my mind, where as before I couldn't even pick up pebbles in the air. I immediately abandon my intentions of avoiding the use of magic… Let's find out what else I can do now.
I bend my concentration towards the yahoo closest to me and I make him rise up into the air with the power of the spirit. I make him float at a point between them and me, halfway up the lobby, and I keep him there, slowly twisting away for a few seconds while I make up my mind about what to do next.
With a smug grin on my face, I focus completely in picturing each cell of his body, with the fingers of the spirit grabbing hold of each one of them. When I can feel that everything is being held down, then I ask the spirit to pull away all those cells in different directions.
The noise heard is like a dozen bed sheets torn apart at the same time, a wet shattering, and hundreds of muted slaps. We are all stupefied to end up sprayed with microscopic vampire particles, and the entire lobby has been spray-painted with a light pink tone. The vampires all groan and yell out in fright, while I guffaw away like a loon. In none of the memories of Benjamin had I seen such a thing. I think that I have finally invented something new in this world of monsters.
I let the hoes clatter down to the floor, and once again I try the experiment. And again; and again; and by the fourth time around we are all dripping vampire chunks, and finally a few in the group try to fight me, while others try to escape. Those who come towards me in a flurry of teeth, punches, kicks, headbutts, knees, or whatever, are the ones easiest to deal with, because with my almost impenetrable body and my massive strength it's a simple matter to hit them with the edges of my hands to separate arms, legs, and heads from their bodies. In a flash, the quartet of vampires that decided to attack me lay at my feet, with their limbs and heads still rolling and bouncing off a few feet away. Those six that tried to escape are still pounding their fists against doors and windows, and I am surprised to realize how weak they are. The are hardly stronger than mere humans…
Not thinking too much about it, I decide to burn them with my mind. The dozen or so vampires that are left look around, everywhere at once, trying not to miss a single detail of the spectacle. They have a look of resolve, and I think that they realize very well that there is no escape and no way to avoid me doing to them whatever I feel like doing. In a moment of destroyer euphoria, I use my magic to fling all of them up to the roof and hold them there, while I make them burn like torches. A few seconds after I have ignited them, I also pulverize them, and all around there are small cascades of sputtering embers.
But…
There's a trio of vampires that remain in the middle of the lobby. Two of them kneeling down, one on each side of the most terrible and beautiful thing that I have ever seen:
They seem to be my wife, my son, and my daughter.
To Be Continued…
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