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    The forest was almost silent. The only sound was a woman’s voice crying out in the pains of child birth. The healer was hunkered down next to the young pregnant woman. “John go and get your sister I will need her help” the healer to the young woman’s mate. John stood there looking anxiously at his mate, who was trying her best to smile but the little smile she had managed turned into a look of pain as another contraction hit her like a crushing tide. “John she will be fine just go and get your sister” the healer said waving john away impatiently.
    “Yes Vandis” John said before taking one last worried look at his mate. John left the birth clearing on foot, but amongst the trees a vampire could move just as fast on foot as a wild horse across the flat steppes. John slowed as the gates of the vampire capital, Vanhire, loomed into view. Within the gates of Vanhire there were two main types of dwelling. Most of the dwellings that the vampires made were constructed from Quickwood. Quickwood is a tree that took only a few weeks to fully mature but would last thousands of years. The first type of dwelling was called a Wood-Dome. It was constructed by training the Quickwood trees as they grew, in such a way that they bent over each other to eventually make a water-proof dome shaped dwelling. Once the dome was finished growing a doorway and a window was cut from one of the walls. The sliced edges were then smothered with a special cream that stopped any future growing. Once the cream had set, a leather flap was placed over the doorway to keep the rain and the wind out. Wood-Domes were used by the common class vampires, while the Vampiric Leaders, the Vandis and the upper class vampires lived in the second type of dwelling, Wood-Towers. A Wood-Tower was also constructed by training Quickwood trees, but unlike the Wood-Domes the Wood-Towers were constructed in such a way that the Quickwood spiraled upwards creating a tall, thin cavern that was broken into three levels by branches that were trained to act as raised floors or stairs. From the outside a Wood-Tower could easily be mistaken for an ancient tree if the outer branches were allowed to grow. As John moved though Vanhire he saw some higher class vampires crafting weapons, clothes and even furniture to sell to the lower class who were forbidden to do such task by Ancient Law. The tasks that were being performed changed visibly as John entered the lower classed area. It was the lower class vampire’s responsibility to process the food and grow the buildings. John moved among the Dwellings towards southern-most group of Domes fully aware of guarded stares of the vampires that were working outside of their homes. John’s mate was the first woman to fall pregnant this year and although they all should have been happy for the newest arrival everyone had a grim look because this child was on the shortest night which was considered unlucky. The vampire’s lives were ruled by a set laws they called the Ancient Law. One of these laws was the Life Law. The life law stated that a child born to a dead mother or under unlucky circumstances was to be left death within a week of birth. Not one vampire ever thought of changing laws not because they were incapable but because they feared the Blood Gods would curse their family with bad luck. John approached a Wood-Dome and scratched the leather flap door. He heard a loud bang and then some shuffling sounds. “Hold on one second" a voice called out from inside the dwelling followed by more shuffling sounds. John stood there waiting for his sister to come to the door and started to watch some young boys play fighting in the streets. It was considered a good thing for young boys to fight as rank in the vampire society came from skill in hunting for males and females gained the male’s status upon mating them. “Oh John it’s you” John sister said from behind him. John spun around startled “Vandis wants you to help her in the birthing clearing Selene.” Selene nodded went inside and brought out a Small figurine of the Blood-God of Protection, Sethery. Sethery took the form a flying Serpent. When a statue of Sethery was placed half buried in the dirt out the front of a dwelling nobody would enter the house unless absolutely necessary. “You don’t need that I’ll stay and watch your house I can’t go back there, Serral in that much pain is more than I care to watch.” John said to his sister. Selene looked sternly at her brother then put the Sethery figurine in his hands and said “she will be fine John I’ll be back soon.” John just nodded meekly and entered his sister’s home without a word. John looked around the dimly lit dwelling that was littered half finished projects. He started walking towards the storage pits and cursed himself when he stubbed his toe multiple times. The storage pits was a hole dug down permafrost that came from the glaciers in the northern mountains. Because the permafrost was always frozen no matter what season of the year the vampires’ stored food and drink would keep longer. John grabbed a water-proof pouch full of blood that taken from the blood farms that allowed for more time to do fun things instead of hunt. He poured himself a cup and carefully weaved back though all the projects littered around out of the dwelling where he sat and continued to watch the young boys fighting. A couple of smaller boys who were left out of the fighting were whispering to each other pushing the oldest towards John. Finally the oldest of the boys shrugged off his friends and walked over to John and said “excuse me John but me and my friends over there” the boy pointed to the kids who were now trying to look innocently uninvolved “were wondering if you could teach us some fighting?”
    “Ryle, why don’t you and your friends join in with those fights?” John asked.
    “Those boys are too big for us to fight John.” John stood up and looked sternly at the boy “Nobody is too big to fight you understand” the boy nodded shyly “Come here I’ll show you something Ryle.” John and Ryle walked over to the side of the road where some branches, which had been blown from the trees in the recent storm, were piled. John rummaged through the pile and finally pulled out a straight and narrow stick that was as tall as him without his head. John walked over to a small clear space and dropped to his knees “Ryle stand over there.” John said as he pointed to a tree about two meters in front of him. “Now Ryle I’m smaller then you on my knees so attack.” Ryle looked confused at the comment. He watched John closely to see if he could find a joke in what he was doing but when he saw John place the stick across his lap and nod he charged towards John preparing to lay a kick in the centre of John’s chest. Just before Ryle raised his foot off of the ground John rolled to one side and sharply rapped the back of Ryle’s legs causing them to buckle and him to fall into the dust. Ryle got up quickly and looked around hoping no one had seen his fall, but it was obvious that his friends had seen the whole thing because they were clutching their sides with laughter. “Forget about them Ryle you know something very valuable now. Remember that without legs your enemy can’t fight.” John said when he saw Ryle’s look of dismay. Ryle’s face lit up when he figured out the meaning of the stunt. “Thank you John I will treasure this knowledge” Ryle turned to leave then hesitated and turn back “John may I have that?” he asked pointing at the stick John was still holding. John shifted the stick into his left hand, pulled his dagger from its sheath and carved Ryle Wood-Fighter around the top of the stick. “Guard it and it shall guard you, Ryle Wood-Fighter.” Ryle took the stick from John and ran back into his crowd of friends to show off the new weapon. John smiled at the young boy. Although his body had developed to that of a twelve year old human boy he had really only lived two years of his life. A vampire’s life span was very different from humans. By the time a vampire is three years old their body is physically aged to that of an eighteen year old at that point of time their body stops physically aging for twenty years. At that time their body only ages one year. After another twenty years their body ages once again and so on for the rest of their life, prolonging it. Average vampires live five hundred years. John laughed out loud when he saw Ryle show one of his friends the new trick then trip another over when he tried to take his stick. John remembered when forty years ago his father taught him how to stick fight. His father had told him to always remember that you do not have to kill to win a fight or to prove you are better. John went back to his drink and dozed off. The sun had been down an hour when Selene finally returned to find her brother still asleep in the chair outside of her house. She walked over to him and said “Come on John stay here tonight.” John just mumbled incoherently and followed his sister still half asleep. Selene dropped her brother on the spare sleeping platform and then headed towards a small enclave in the back of her home. When she pulled aside the soft leather flap, that separated the main room and enclave, she saw a dimly lit spaced filled with almost complete statues. It was Selene’s job to carve every new house hold a Sethery statue. She also carved a small animal when a new baby was born. This animal was the baby’s protecting spirit. Selene grabbed a small piece of wood and started carving. An hour had passed when Selene finally stopped and looked at what she was carving. The plain block of wood had become a perfect replica of a monkey. Selene turned the piece of wood over in her hands admiring how the grains in the wood seemed like a coat of fur. After one final turn Selene nodded and put the monkey on a small table. Selene got up and swept all of the woodchips into a pile to be cleaned up in the morning. She looked over at her John and mourned for him and Serral. As the first lights of dawn stretched forth across the land, a sense of foreboding was thick in the air of Vanhire. The Vandis walked to the entrance of John’s home and scratched at the leather door. She was going to scratch again when she noticed the fallen Sethery statue in the dirt. She bent over and buried the lower half of the statue in the sand then said “protect his home, he deserves that much.” Vandis knew that John was usually an early riser and decided to look for him at the market place. She walked though all of the lower class section of Vanhire when she saw Ryle showing his friends a new trick he learnt. “Ryle could I ask you something?” Vandis asked as she approached the group. Ryle stood awkwardly in front of his friends. “Have you seen John lately?”
    “I think he slept at Selene's place”
    “Thank you Ryle”. Vandis turned and left the group of boys and walked towards Selene's dwelling. When John woke up he was disoriented at first. The last thing he remembered was sitting on a chair watching Ryle playing with his friends. As his brain start to wake up and function properly he began to notice the sounds of his sister down in the storage pit. He got up and made his way through the maze of his sister’s unfinished projects. “Selene I’m going out to find Vandis ok?” There a few loud bangs then his sister emerged from the pit. “Sure. Don’t worry about tiding up I do it later.” John made his way to the door just as Vandis scratched the leather. “Oh Vandis I was just coming to look for you” John said.
    “John I have some terrible news. Serral she died last night.” John’s for head creased in anger. “I’m sorry”
    “You lie!” John shouted.
    “Why? Why would I do that John” Vandis said in a very calm way.
    “I don’t believe you.”
    “Please John you must see that I wouldn’t lie to you.”
    John’s rage depleted its self and he started to cry. “You lie. You said she would be fine” John said shaking his head unable to believe what he was being told.
    “I’m sorry John. I truly am but the birth was just more than her body could bear.” Vandis said putting her hand on John’s shoulder. John fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands. John sat there crying and before anybody could react John was on his feet and out the door. John ran through the gates of lower Vanhire like a shadow fleeing the sun. A torrent of emotion rushed through John like the blood in his veins. How could Sorrel be dead? The thought just couldn’t embed into John’s mind. When John finally stopped running the sun had traveled half its journey and John stood atop of a large canyon. John let out a long and loud yell that echoed up and down the canyon. John started to slowly trudged back towards Vanhire. John’s mind was beginning to accept Serral’s death. His body just didn’t have the energy to fight logic. John sat down against a tree with only his thoughts to keep him company. A thought entered John’s mind that made him question his own sanity. He was thinking of trying to get the Council of Blood to spare his newborn child’s life. He would be the first in the known Vampiric history to try to change the Ancient Laws. John stood up and with more purpose started towards Vanhire. By the time he reached the gates of Vanhire the sun had long since left the sky. John decided that it was too late to seek out an audience with the Council of Blood so he headed to his house in lower Vanhire. It was obvious that both Vandis and his sister had both come looking for him here. There was a small pile of wood, which meant that at least one of them had entered the dwelling. John entered his house and found it in the shamble he had left it. His furniture consisted of a table with two chairs, a bed, two cushioned seats and a half finished cot. John’s head hung low as he walked over to the bed and lied down. After only a few minutes passed John grew restless and started staring at the ceiling. A torrent of thoughts passed through his mind. He did his best to convince himself to just let the child go but somewhere deep in his mind the decision to save his child was holding firm. An hour passed and John still lied there awake. Finally he got up and moved over to the cot. His hands ran across the smooth grain of the wood. John held his hands, palms facing outwards, in front of him and said “Gods of Blood my decision is almost final. There is only one more thing I ask and that is your approval. Show me you approve by allowing me to complete this cot with no faults.” John looked down at his hands. They were covered in scars from his younger years when he was learning his craft. He took a deep breath then grabbed his whittle knife and begun his work. The hours passed by meaninglessly for John his mind was totally focus on the job at hand. His hands moved with expertly along the wood, shaving fine slices of wood. The sunlight suddenly shone through his window. John’s eyes were forced shut by the sudden light and his hand slipped and the knife dropped. John’s heart seemed to stop as he waited for the thud of metal against wood. A few seconds passed before John braved opening his eyes. The whittle knife that had fallen from his hand has missed the cot by a hairs width. John grabbed the knife off of the floor and looked at the cot but could figure what to do now. John stood up and stretched his protesting muscles. He went to his storage pits and grabbed some dried meat and begun to hunt down his dress garments. The sun had made half of its journey across the sky by the time John was ready to leave. He took one last look at himself and headed out the door. When he pulled the flap aside, he almost ran in Vandis who was about to scratch the leather of his door. “Oh Vandis how can help you?” asked John
    “The Council of Blood wants to see you at the Oak-Towers as soon as possible. It looks as though you were heading there anyway.”
    “Yes I was.” John said quickly trying to end the discussion before it could reach the subject of his child.
    “I will be there in a little while; I need to go fetch you sister.” John left his home and made his way through lower Vanhire towards the heart of the city, the Oak-Towers. The Oak-Tower was a unique building, unlike any of the other buildings in Vanhire, the Oak-Towers was mixture of both a Wood-Tower and a Wood-Dome. The main room was constructed in a large dome shape that could hold four thousand vampires, at each compass point stood a guard tower. It was closest thing to a castle the Vampiric race ever constructed. John easily pushed aside the large ironwood doors, another unique thing about the way the building was made, and entered the large hall. At the end of the hall was a long crescent moon table at which 12 ancient men sat, The Council of Blood. John walked to the centre of the hall and knelt down and rested his head on the floor awaiting acknowledgement. The Council continued their conversation for a few more minutes than the elder stood and said “Arise John please take a seat.” The elder indicated a seat at the front of the hall. As john walked towards his seat he was overly aware of his footsteps echoing through the hall. As soon as he sat down, the Ironwood doors opened again as Vandis and Selene entered the hall. Selene Knelt down in the formal fashion but Vandis approached the Council and whispered something in the elders ear. The elder nodded and allowed Vandis and Selene to sit. After a moments silence the elder spoke “I have asked you here to discuss a very unfortunate matter. As i'm sure you three know John’s first son was born on the shortest night. That fact alone is enough to sentence the boy to death. It would normally be up to the mother of the child to leave it the mercy of the elements, but she has passed so the duty falls to you John should you wish to take it. If you do not think you can do it then you may ask either your sister or Vandis to do it for you. How do you speak?”
    John stood up and said “I neither wish myself to do this task nor either of them to. The Blood Gods don’t wish it either.”
    A murmur passed through the Council before the elder silenced them. “What you do mean John?”
    “Last night I asked the Blood Gods to spare my child and they approved.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Of course I am sure would I have brought it to your attention if I wasn’t?”
    “How? How can you be sure?” Shouted one of the Council members before the elder silenced him.
    “I asked the gods that if they approved to allow me carve my child’s cot without fault and right now in the center of my home is a perfectly carved cot” John said.
    Another murmur ran through the council this time the elder let it continue for a little while before silencing it. “John if the gods truly wish you child to be spared then there will be no objections when we announce this to the public.”
    John nodded and stared down at his feet. He knew that there would be more than one who would be inclined to object; all that he could hope for was that the gods would somehow intervene. An hour has passed before the entire population of vampires arrived in the hall. There was a dull roar as the people of Vanhire talked among themselves. The Council elder stood and raised his hand. The roar of talking died away instantly. “I know that you are all here to find out about the fate of John’s child.” He looked towards John “come up here. You too Selene.”
    John stood uncomfortably he hated formal ceremonies especially the ones where he was the center of attention. John thoughts were interrupted but the elders voice “On the night of last, John asked the Blood Gods to spare his child.”
    A roar of distaste passed though the crowd and it took a while for the elder to silence it. Once the roar had died down the elder started talking again “It would seem that John declares the gods agreed. John has said that he asked the gods if they approved to let him carve his son’s cot. Earlier in the day I sent Selene and Vandis to have a look at this cot. Unfortunately the Vandis of the Redwood Clan has fallen ill and the people of Redwood requested our Vandis’s help. So instead we decided to bring cot here for you all to judge.” Two of the Council Guard carried the cot into the center of the room. While John stood next to the cot while each vampire there had a look at the cot. There were some nods of approval from some and the others remained not openly moved. Seeing it now, knowing that it was being judged, it seemed so rough to John. After everyone there had their look the elder spoke “You have all seen the cot. Now everybody who believes that the child should be spared raise your hand?”
    To Johns surprise over half the room raised their hand but that didn’t matter. If there was one objection his child would be doomed. “and now those who disagree.”
    John stood with his eyes pinned on the crowd. John could hear a voice in his head yelling “Your Crazy” but then his heart beat drowned out the voice. Suddenly instead of hands raising people started collapsing onto the floor. The room went into a roar as people tried to figure out what was happening. “They are ok. They are just sleeping s’Council” Vandis’s voice rang out over the crowd. The roar instantly died. Vandis walk over to the elder and whispered in his ear. The elder shook his head mournfully then said aloud “As there were no objections John child shall be welcomed into our society tonight.”
    The council members all stood and left the hall signifying the end of the meeting. The entire of Vanhire was in a state of confusion. The entire population of Vanhire was in a state of confusion, never in their known history had a child be spared the fate of its birth. Although it was against Ancient Laws not one vampire would object now that the Council of Blood decreed that the child be spared. As night fell large fires were lit in a huge field near Vanhire. The elder of the council stood atop of a large flat bolder that was between two of the large fires. The field grew loud as the inhabitance of Vanhire entered in mob. Everybody was looking eagerly towards the elder wondering why he hadn’t started when suddenly a large bolt of fire shot up through the top of the trees to the west of the field, signaling the arrival of group of vampires from another city. The already crowd that had already gathered in the field watched the bolt of fire rise up in the sky the putter out of existence. There was a long silence as the people of Vanhire waited to see who had arrived. As suddenly as the bolt of fire had launched the first of the visitors burst from the tree line. The young visitor ran to a place in front of the elder and knelt in the formal fashion. “Arise young one. Who is waiting in those trees?”
    The young vampire stood “Elder I am Jonah, first son of the leader of the Redwood Clan. My father requests permission to enter this ceremony.”
    The elder studied young man before him for a while before saying “Of course your father and his people are welcome here.”
    Jonah nodded before he raised a bone horn to his lips and blew. An eerie hollow roar echoed across the field. There was a moment silence before a return horn blew. As soon as the sound of the horn had died away almost two-hundred vampires burst out of the trees. The crowds started merging and a loud murmur rose as people met up with distant family and old friends. The elder held up his hand for silence. It took a few minutes for the murmur to completely disappear. “You will all have you chance to catch up with those you know as the night continues. I know you are all wondering what the Redwood clan is doing here. Earlier the Vandis of Vanhire informed of a grim matter. During the early hours of the day the Vandis of Redwood passed through this world and onto the next. Now before we start the celebration or the mourning I have one last task to perform.”
    The Vandis of Vanhire brought John’s child out to the elder. The elder looked at the child and felt sorry for it. The child’s life would never be an easy one. The elder looked at the crowd of vampires and said “in my arms I hold John of Vanhire’s first born son. Tonight he is to be welcomed into our society despite his unfortunate beginning. John normally the task of choosing a name would fall to mother but under the circumstances the chore fall to you. What is the child’s name?”
    John stood and said “he shall be called Darren of Vanhire.”
    The elder look out to the crowd and asked “does anyone object to the chosen name?” There was a moment of silence before a voice called “object to the name? No Elder I don’t object to the name. I object to the child being spared!”
    John frowned he was worried now, if this one vampire caused an uproar that could spell the death of his son. The elder chuckled and said “you all had you chance to object but you chose to sleep instead.”
    A wave of quiet laughter passed through the gathered vampires. There were no more objections and the celebrations begun.