The Thu'um

"So... you finally found me," I spoke lowly, looking at the lykánthro̱pos in front of me through half-lidded eyes.

He smirked at me, displaying those disgusting fangs of his. "No, we finally caught you."

I grinned, displaying my own fangs. "Guess I've just been too intelligent for you idiots~" I sang out, licking my fangs and breathing in deeply.

This power was one I had hidden for a long time. It was a power I had discovered hundreds of years ago, when the world was in the midst of creation, when the dragons, the Dov, Fin Dov ruled the Earth, the Gol. It was an old power, blessed to humans by the god Akatosh.

"You know, it might be because of this..." I began, breathing in deeply.

"zul mC gut" I whispered out, causing the crowd's eyes to look away from me.

"Where is she!" the lykánthro̱pos yelled out, looking around erratically.

I silently giggled when they looked right at me and couldn't see me. That shout, the thuum, zul mC gut, is an ancient shout known as 'Throw Voice'. The three words of power being zul (Zul), meaning 'voice'. mC (Mey) meaning 'fool'. And gut (Gut), meaning far. It manipulates the perception of everyone around me into losing location of me, making my voice seem like it is much farther away, or in a different location.

I quickly ran back home, doing my best to avoid the Watch as my shout began to die out. As soon as I reached the inside of my house, I slammed the door shut and breathed a sigh of relief.

I gripped my right lung, breathing heavily. Now I remember why I very rarely used my Thu’um… my lungs are shit. And the Thu’um just makes it worse.

‘Then again,’ I began. ‘At least it wasn’t anything like Unrelenting Force…’

Unrelenting Force was a Thu’um that required a ton of breath, as the force of the shout throws whatever is in your way, well… away from you.

‘fus ro d4,’ I thought, the three sacred words of power for the Unrelenting Force Thu’um. Fus (Fus) or force. Ro(Ro), or balance. And d4 (Dah) or push. Among being one of the more costly ones, it was also one of the more basic of the Thu’umme.

I shuddered as I remembered when I first discovered my ability of the Thu’um.

I was taken out of my musings when I heard a stomping on the porch. My head snapped up and quickly went to the window to see who it was. Seeing that it was just Kenny, I quickly opened the door and yanked him in.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” he yelled, bringing his hands up defensively. “I know you have a thing for me, but-” I cut him off in the midst of his joking by forcing my hand over his mouth.

“Kenny, shut up,” I whispered, looking out the window again.

I sighed in relief when none of the Watch members were patrolling my street, and shut the blinds.

“Sorry…” I muttered to Kenny, looking sheepishly at him. “I had a run in with the Watch on my way here, and ended up having to use a Thu’um against them…”

He simply looked at me and sighed. “Really, Bree? You used your Thu’um!?”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “It wasn’t anything like Unrelenting Force,” I replied exhaustedly, annoyed that he’d think I’d use a louder Thu’um.

“Then which one did you use?” he asked, looking at me doubtfully.

“Throw Voice,” I answered quickly, looking him in the eye.

He continued to look into my eyes for a few moments, before nodding and looking away. He obviously knew I spoke the truth, or else he would have kept pressing the matter.

“Fine so… what d’ya wanna’ do?” he asked me, returning to his hyper self.

I laughed softly and began to walk downstairs towards my room. “Must you ask?”

He grinned and followed me, but in his eyes I saw his annoyance. He knew we were gonna’ play something like Black Ops or Smash Bros, meaning that he was most likely gonna’ get his ass beat.

He might have been an immortal but I’ve existed for much longer than he has. I’ve seen the rise and fall of the dov, children of Akatosh, and the original immortals. The rise and fall of the Empire, the beginnings of the First Civilization, etc.

Kenny was born after the fall of the First Civilization, the first human since Adam and Eve. For whatever reason, he was an immortal. He wasn’t a child of any of the gods, wasn’t blessed by them, and sure as Hell wasn’t a vampyre.

Anyway, the point I’m trying to make here, is that Kenny’s age can’t even begin to fathom my age. The original Childe of Infiniti, the original follower of the Goddess, and the Elder Vampyre.

My grin widened as I walked down the stairs in a quick, fluid like motion. Before Kenny had even reached my room, I had already turned on the PS3 and threw Black Ops into it, already turning on ‘his controller’ (it was really my red one), and my black controller.

“So, ready to get destroyed?” I asked, smirking at him. He simply sighed and accepted his fate. He knew he’d never be as good as I was, but he refused to admit it.

For the rest of the day, Kenny and I simply played video games, until he was forced by my father to go home.

After I had bid him a good day, I walked back down to my room without saying a word to my father and stripped of all my clothes, opening up my closet.

I sighed when I noticed that I had (for whatever reason) used up all of my non-pink or non-girly clothing. All that I had were pink t-shirts, pink and lavender blouses, and pink and lavender tank-tops (though I was more neutral on the lavender), skirts, and dresses.

I sighed again, grabbing one of the lavender tank-tops and a random skirt (a black one, something that would allow me free movement and something that made stains almost impossible to see) from my dirty laundry. It wasn’t like I was planning on impressing anybody, nor was it like this skirt looked filthy or anything. The only way someone would be able to tell that I had worn the skirt already was if they walked up to me and smelled it.

I walked up to my coat-rack, and grabbed one of my leather vests (something I had in abundance). Had I been wearing a blouse and pants, I’d have grabbed one of my long-coats, but it was much too hot for one of those.

I grabbed one of my swords off of the wall, unsheathing it and staring at my reflection off the blade. I had recently polished the baby a few days ago, sharpening it as well. One had to do everything they could to stay alive, especially when they were hunted by basically the second biggest city of their home state.

I grudgingly sheathed the blade and strapped it to my baldric, hanging the baldric across my right shoulder (for easier access). I kicked the screen off of my window, slipping out and reapplying it to the windowsill.

“l1s Y4 n7” I whispered, watching as the outlines of the various animals and species appeared in my line of sight, some in my peripheral vision.

‘Okay… in my very centre of my vision are four living organisms that aren’t animals… three of which are showing human properties… the last one being some sort of non-human species… perhaps wood-elf?’

I jumped over the fence leading into the front yard, and rushed behind a random bush, continuing to watch the figures.

‘They seem to alternate patrol areas… One goes up 37^th leading to 39^th, one goes down 39^th leading to 37^th… one walks across Havana to Deerborn on 37^th, and one walks across Deerborn to Havana on 39^th…’ I recorded, also recording the time they took during each route.

‘If I can use ‘Throw Voice’ and then ‘Whirlwind Sprint’, mixing the Thu’um with my natural vampiric speed, I should be able to make it past the guard on 39^th… but it’s making it up there that’ll be rough…’

I contemplated just running across the backyards of my neighbours, before quickly tossing the idea.

‘The wood elf would sense me…’

I then thought of taking a book out of Hayley’s book, using the ‘Invisibility’ spell she taught me last year. I wasn’t as much of pro at illusion spells as dark elves or dark faeries, but… I could always try it.

I closed my eyes and literally just thought about the spell, feeling the magical energy rush into my left hand. I opened my eyes and looked at said hand, a dark purple orb floating in my grasp.

I clenched my hand, breaking the orb and sending the magical energy it was made up of outwards, enveloping my entire being. I quickly glanced into the window of my neighbour’s home, noticing that I now had no reflection.

‘Thank the Goddess, it worked.’

Invisibility would only work for thirty seconds, more than enough time to make it up the street. I just needed to time this right.

As soon as both of the guards walked past my house, I quickly rushed onto the street, making it so the wood elf would be unable to detect me. A wood elf can only detect living organisms that were directly connected to the Earth. As the asphalt of the street was another layer over the Earth, he’d be unable to detect me that way.

I then crouched and got into the centre of the street, moving slowly so as to not have to worry about being heard (just in case one of the patrols on the street wasn’t human), and proceeded to make my way of Morrill.

I froze quickly as my Thu’um wore off, making it impossible for me to see the Watch member on 39^th.

‘Fuck!’ I mentally yelled as the Watch member walked right passed me stopping to sniff.

I grit my teeth and brought in some breath. "zul mC gut" I whispered for the second time today, grinning as the Watch member spun around and ran towards Deerborn.

I sat for a bit, allowing myself to regain some air, before bringing in a huge gulp of air. If Kenny heard this down on Freya, or hears about me using this Thu’um, he’d kill me for risking the near-fatal asthma attack.

“Wuld n4 kest!” I shouted, feeling the force of my Thu’um carry me across the street. I added some of my natural speed into the movement, allowing me to break into a sound breaking sprint as soon as I landed from the force.

“She’s over here!” I heard the 39^th guard yell out before I broke into the sprint.

I just had to make it to 57^th, an area that would technically take place outside of Spokane, thus neutral territory, making it nationally illegal for the Watch to attack me.

I cursed as the asthma attack started, knocking me out of the sprint, making me run straight into the ground.

I stood, feeling as if I was about to cough up a lung, wincing as my desperate lungs attempted to take in some oxygen. One thing you’d never think could exist, a vampire with asthma. But fuck logic, the conversion from human to vampyre isn’t what many think it is.

Most people think the conversion to vampirism eradicates the body of all illnesses or viruses. That was a lie. The transformation process does not eradicate the body of illnesses; it actually might make them worse. I, for instance, had asthma before the transformation process. And since the transformation, it’s actually been worse.

 I grit my teeth when I heard the footsteps of the Watch guards nearing me, smelling the lykánthro̱pos mixed in with the group.

“So, thought you could get away, did you?” he drawled out, smirking evilly at me. He was clenching and unclenching his hands, as if getting ready for a fight. With who they are, I have no doubt that that’s exactly what he was doing.

“Weren’t so successful, now were ya’?”

I stayed silent, continuing to stare at the man, placing my hand on my katana’s hilt, readying myself for a fight.

His grin widened, as if he were a wolf who had caught his prey. And he probably actually thought that, thinking he had actually caught me. His hands unclenched one more time, his nails extending into claws.

“Looks like the bitch wants to fight us. Such like a vampyre whore,” he said snidely, continuing to grin at me.

It was pretty common knowledge that lykánthro̱po have a… lust for vampyres when in heat. Hell, sometimes when they aren’t, especially lykánthro̱po males to vampyre females. Obviously, this lykánthro̱pos was in heat, and was determined to make me his slave of sex. I’d much rather be sent into the Plains of Oblivion before I let that happen.

I continued to stay silent when he lunged at me, claws fully extended. I quickly ducked low, unsheathing my blade just slightly, letting the pommel of the hilt hit him in the stomach. I sheathed the blade again, getting back into my standing position.

I lunged to the side, twirling in the air and unsheathing my blade as I landed, evading another attack from the filthy mutt.

He grunted as he hit the ground again, looking up and growling at me.

“You little bitch…” he muttered, curling his upper lip upwards in a sneer. “You’ll fucking pay for that!”

I stayed silent, staring into the mutt’s eyes. The chocolate brown that were very common among lykánthro̱po when in human form shifted colour, brightening into a glowing amber shade. Oh shit… he was mad, and a mad lykánthro̱po is never something anybody wanted to screw with, even a vampyre.

His head snapped to the men behind him, his scowling features twisting into a disgusting snarl.

“Don’t just fucking stand there! Attack her!” he snapped at his lackeys. Wow, not the best way to make them like you, nor take orders.

Then again… they were vampyre hating creatures, so I could understand why they listened to him.

Several of them pulled out their own swords and shields, some pulling out two blades, while others notched an arrow or two into their bows.

No guns? Huh, must not have been an approved group if they didn’t have any riflemen.

As soon as the lykánthro̱po jumped up, many of the guards charged, and the archers firing their arrows at me.

“Fus,” I shouted, the force of my voice deflecting the arrows and throwing most of the members backwards, a few being thrown into other members.

The lykánthro̱po on the other hand (somehow) resisted the force and stared at me, bewildered.

“D-Dragonborn….?” he uttered, before growling again. “Good job, giving me another reason to kill you!”

I rushed forward again, drawing another sigh from me. Hoorah, another lykánthro̱po that absolutely loathes me. Not really what I needed right now.

The Dragonborn, or Dov4k3n (Dovahkiin) as we were called by the Ancient Ones, the Kruz3k Geinne (Kruziik Geinne), were an old ‘race’, a line of beings that were gifted the Zul (Zul, or Voice) by the divine Akatosh in the early era of the world, when the dragons ruled the Earth.

Once the Alessian Bloodline descended to strictly vampyres, the reputation and vision of Dragonborn also descended into nothing more than people that use their gift in the Voice to kill those who stood before them.

Many of the races, especially the lykánthro̱po developed an extreme dislike of the Dragonborn when they had allied themselves with Volkihar clan, a clan of Vampyres that were set on blacking the sun out, giving the Earth eternal night; a plan that almost succeeded, had the Dawnguard not destroyed the Bloodstone and killed Lord Harkon.

That was the point that Vampyres began to be hated absolutely by the rest of the races, Dragonborn Vampyres especially.

My eyes narrowed as the lykánthro̱po lunged forward, my sight perception moving quicker, allowing me to practically predict where he was gonna’ be moving.

I lifted my blade up in a defense stance as the mutt blurred in front of me, his right claws lunging down, only to be thrown off by the collision with the blade.

Unfortunately he didn’t stagger from the collision, but slashed at me with his left claws, the hit landing and digging deep into the left side of my body, gliding across my stomach and ripping out on the right side, leaving a long blood trail.

‘Fuck!’ I mentally yelled, gasping as the blood escaped from the claw marks. First blood went to him, I guess.

I grunted and readied my blade again, glaring at the lykánthro̱po. The mutt better not have rabies, or I’ll murder him!

He lunged at me again, looks like he was determined to keep me on the defensive for the whole of the fight, or at least until the rest of his men got their balance and bearings back; many of them aghast at my status as Dragonborn.

I blocked another swipe of his claws, actually lunging my blade forward, forcing the mutt to stagger, allowing me to take my own attack.

 I ducked under him, spinning the blade into my usual icepick grip, slashing it up towards him. The dog dodged at the last second, the blade only digging slightly into his skin and drawing a few drops of blood.

I jumped back and sheathed my blade, looking the dog in the eye.

‘Remember, Brianna,’ I remembered my In (In) (Master) telling me once before. ‘Eye contact is a vampyre’s greatest asset against a lykánthro̱po. A well timed illusion can send a dog running in an instant.’

Unfortunately, I was never the Illusion type of girl, so I never actually practiced them long enough to be able to initiate one in a split second. Luckily, I never really had to fight a lykánthro̱po.

However, that flaw was easily overlooked, due to the vampyre’s ‘Alluring Gaze’, a power that basically forced any creature that looked in a vampyre’s eyes to continue looking into them.

‘And… now!’ I thought, thrusting a simple illusion into his mind. It wasn’t a very powerful one, but I didn’t need to use a strong one against the mutt.

I also didn’t know what he was seeing, only that it would immobilize his body for several minutes, if not a few hours.

My gaze shifted to the men behind him, many of them still being either shocked at my bloodline, or unconscious from the Shout.

I sighed and turned my gaze downward, inhaling some more oxygen.

“F2m z3 gron,” I breathed out, watching as my form turned spectral in appearance. ‘Become Ethereal’, not really a fantastic Shout to use for escape, but it makes it so I’m basically invulnerable. However, I’m also unable to cause any form of damage.

I quickly ran off, making good distance between myself and the Watch. I grunted in annoyance when I felt myself slow down, attempting to not come to an instant stop.

‘If a vampyre gets low on internal blood, then their power begins to dissipates, draining to nearly nothing,’ I remember the old man telling me, many years and years ago. ‘They become nothing more than a human, human, a jul (jul),’ he warned me.

I looked down at my feet, and on the road behind me. There was a long trail of blood, and at my feet was a small puddle of the crimson substance.

‘A vampyre cannot drink their own blood, and very rarely will a vampyre drink upon another’s. The blood of a vampyre is toxic to other vampyres, and especially more to themselves,’ he warned me.

I grunted again, this time in annoyance. Very few people let vampyres drink from them, believing that they themselves will contract the ‘virus’. It wasn’t like I was a fucking Sanguinare Vampyre, the only race of vampyre that were able to transfer vampirism.

But alas, most mortals didn’t understand such a thing. Thus, finding willing blood donors was very rare. Hayley was one, Matt was one, and Kenny was one. But all three of ‘em lived quite the distance away from where I was, and in Spokane.

‘But… maybe that Dark Faery? I thought, looking in the direction of her scent, something that was quite strong. I’m still confused on how I missed it this whole time. The scent of a Dark Faery is a powerful scent, something that a Faery should be unable to conceal.

I quickly turned in the direction of the Dark Faery’s home, and broke into a quick dash.

‘Please, please be out of Spokane!’ I mentally pleaded.

I continuously hopped over several homes on the path towards the Dark Faery, making sure to keep my Vampiric Illusion active, concealing myself from mortals using the wind.

The Vampiric Illusion is an ability that all vampyres can use, allowing them to stay hidden from a mortal’s sight… at least, for a short amount of time. The illusion will disguise the vampyre in the most inconspicuous way possible, and this time, the Illusion manipulated the wind around me to reflect the rays of light, preventing a mortal from being able to register my form.

I landed on the ground a block or two away from the Faery’s home, dispelling the illusion and slowly walking up to her housing development (really, it was an apartment complex, but… meh), and sniffed again, following the scent to (what I believed to be) her door, knocking lightly.

I closed my eyes and readied myself, hearing the door open and a newly appearing heart rate increase.

“W-What are you doing here?”