Indigo: Epilogue

Epilogue.

It was a black night, darker than any night they had seen before.  The lookouts atop of the village walls kept watch– mostly on the world outside.  All across the wooden fort walls were giant red crosses. Long silver lines stretched across the border of the woods all around the village.  Despite all these defenses, nothing could prevent what was about to happen.

“It’s a new moon tonight...” One man gazed up at the black sky.
“ I hate it when it’s this dark– those bloodsuckers like to come out and play.” a man with a wide brimmed hat  spit into the air. 
“We’re more than ready for them.”  The young man said as he displayed his flashy gun like a toy.

“You’re wrong.”  The  man cut him off sharply, but lowering his voice. “We’re just sitting ducks here. It wouldn’t take long for a vampire to find the Karyuudo village.”
“But we’re all trained hunters– no vampire would dare to–“
“Do you think mortal humans really stand a chance against them?”  The  man said with a doubtful tone.  “Don’t think that just because this village has stood for almost a century that it will stand for another. Everything that is born must die– that’s the rules of the game.”  He nonchalantly lit up a cigarette.

The young man stared a little bewildered.  He gripped his gun even tighter as sweat dripped down his brow.  The other man looked over at him from underneath his wide-brimmed hat.

“I sometimes wonder why we do this... this futile fighting...” he says.  “But we all have our places in life. For now, this is where I am. I was born into this life just like you, and as long as I’m alive I’ll fight for my life and for those I need to protect.”  His dark eyes twinkled with crimson and raw energy.
The young man stared at him a moment. The energy emitted from this man was more than any human could hold. It was enough to stop a vampire with fear.

The Stillness of the night was suddenly broken when the other man pushed aside his young companion and caught a sharp wooden stick in his hand. 
Before the novice had a chance to react, his superior issued an order.
“We’re under attack– sound the alarm!”  He said as he wiped out his two guns and waited for the targets to appear.
As the young man hurried to the gong under the tower, the sounds of screams and thuds echoed all around the fort walls. 

“We’re surrounded.”  The experienced hunter remarked.  “I was afraid this would happen...” 

Suddenly he fired off a round into the sky.  A rain of crimson fell down, followed by a body that fell in front of the young man. 
The body twitched, as the wounds burned with rapid speed.  In a few instances the body was still and dead looking.
In moments shots rang out as shadows leapt from all sides.  At the sound of the alarm the entire town was ringing with action.  The hunter in the hat hit every target and moved with speed that was almost inhuman.  The young man could hardly see him, let alone keep up.

Just as sudden, an attacker launched an arsenal of darts at the young guard.  Unable to react, the young man stood frozen, as the other man took the bulk of the attack in his arm.  Not fazed by the attack, he immediately turned his weapon and hit the target.

After a moment he fell to one knee. 
“I-I’m sorry!”  The young man quivered, trying to help him up.
“It’s no time for that!  Stay aware!”  He flung his arm out.  Pulling out the darts he rose up and continued defending against the onslaught.

The pale faces that charged towards him become more blurred with the shadows.  The ground began swaying, as it grew dimmer and dimmer. 
The  man leaned against a wall and looked up, aiming his gun at an approaching figure. 

The figure was also swaying, but as it fell to the ground he knew it was no illusion.  He kept aim on the target despite his dizziness. 

“Please....” the whimpering voice said.  It was the voice of a women.  “Kill me...”
As he neared the figure, breathing heavily, he saw it was a wounded female.  His eyes could be playing tricks so he kept his weapon locked on.

“Kill me hunter...” the voice said, as the two crimson eyes looked up at him. “I just want it to end... all the pain and suffering...”
“You’re just fighting for survival too, aren’t you?”  He said with an unusually soft voice.  “It’s not too late you know, you can still change.  It doesn’t matter what you are– we’re all part of the human race.”  He lowered his weapon. 
Her eyes opened wide.  “Can... I still be saved?”  She asked weakly.
He nodded.
She held out her pale and fragile looking hand.  “Will you... help me?”
In an instant the helpless hand vanished.  He felt a hard cold feeling through his chest as he fell forward.  Crimson liquid gushed out of his mouth, and his breathing stopped.

“You foolish humans, how easily you’re fooled.”  The taunting voice was the last he heard.
Despite the oncoming darkness, and the anguish, he forced his body to move with all his remaining energy and one last breath, as he stabbed a silver blade into her heart. 
“Gotcha...”  He said weakly. 
“Why...?!”  Her blood-shot eyes opened wide, as her body trembled.  She let out a blood curdling scream that made every warrior freeze, then her body fell lifeless to the earth.
The man remained motionless on the bloody ground, still clinging to the knife.

The  man was known as Tanshu, the unrivaled Vampire Hunter.  And yet despite all his great achievements he refused any high position and often stayed on watch with the other guards.  The young man never knew he had been in the presence of one of the Great Ones, until it was too late.  He fell like all the Great Ones, dying to protect those who were most precious.  That night the attack failed. After the death of their leader, the weaker vampires fled in defeat, and the village was saved from what could have been a massacre.  But in time... all great heros are forgotten...