a sword in the dark (vampire fluff

quick thing i did in about 10 minutes before bed.

The night sky was a dark hue, not quite black but not quite gray. He was moving fast through the forest, with a grace that defied logic, the wind only uttering the faintest trace of his passing, even though he was fully armored. The brush upon the ground lay barely disturbed. His dark blue eyes were reflected in the strong moonlight. With unnatural sight he picked out his prey, the three guards upon the small stone wall.

The wall was short; barely rising six feet from the forest floor, but it was made of stone, and so posed a significant obstacle to any attacker. He suddenly stopped, and launched himself into the air. Simultaneously he drew a short sword, six feet of pure steel, edge wickedly sharp, pointed at the tip, from a scabbard at his right. A stabbing sword. With strength only a vampire could have, he impaled the guard with a single stroke, landing on the wall in the midst of the prey at the exact moment of impact.

It took the guards to his sides five seconds to take in what happened. Two to notice their fellow was impaled on a short sword. One to notice the armored figure in between them. and two to begin drawing their weapons. By the fourth second, the vampire had withdrawn his blade from its skin-scabbard, and had slashed left, gutting the man who had his sword half drawn and then cutting him cleanly in half. Continuing with the momentum, he pivoted on his heel and slashed right and upwards, his blade going through the other mans neck and spine altogether. A trickle of crimson ran down the blade. When he straightened, if only for a moment, he licked the blade clean, his tongue running up from hilt to tip. Then he was in motion again, leaving the three corpses to their rot, and continuing on to his next victim. The guards would not be his last kill this night. Not on Geheimnisnacht

Cool, more stories! That's an evil vampire you got there, just killing for the fun of itand not even feeding on the victims

Is there a warband accompanying (spelling?) this story?

Nice story, although I do think that a 6 ft short sword is a touch on the largish side. Compensating for something? Lol.

Nice work on the story, keep it coming.

lol...it was bedtime when i wrote that...about 10 pm....tired.

no there is no warband accompanying him. i might add that in somewhere down the line though.

The Vampire solo is an appealing idea; the lone hunter stalking the night has a certain romantic aspect to it. Perhaps, rather than a War Band, he could have a network of operatives & contacts with an Old Friend from before his tranformation as the Trusty Side Kick, like Whistler in the Blaze stories. GOOD STUFF!

Cool. Just one question: how come he has a six-foot short-sword?

because i have no grasp of length's reffering to swords.

4 feet is a reasonably-long sword.

Likewise 2 to 2.5 ft is a good length for a short sword, especially when the blade is designed mostly for thrusting and stabbing (as most short swords are)

Yeah, a gladius (a Roman short sword issued to legionaries) is about that length. It's also worth remembering that short swords are best used in large groups (where they allow comrades to stand closer together) or in inclosed spaces (the naval cutlass was invented for this pupose).