Crimson

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"You really think you're all that, huh?" the vampire said as he stood before me

"Well, so far I have good reason to think I'm all that," I shrugged.

"I've been training directly under Stuart for three hundred years. A much greater challenge than those children. Are you up for it? Or do you only accept challenges you know you can win?" he asked, oozing with both pride and arrogance which made me all the more excited about proving him wrong.

"Oh, I am up for it. In fact," I turned to the side, to where Everett stood, "how much money have I won so far?"

"Five grand," Everett answered after counting it through.

"So wanna bet five grand?" I asked the arrogant vampire.

His smirk widened. "You're on."

He only lasted a few minutes.

"That's what you get for calling us children," the previous man I had fought laughed as the arrogant one crashed.

Three more challenged me, but they all went down as easily. Then came another one that I recognized. It was the woman from the other day and to my surprise, she turned out to be the hardest one to beat out of the once I had fought, apart from Everett. The reason was quite simple. All the others had an air of superiority that made them underestimate me. But she didn't. In fact, she seemed to rather have spent my previous fights watching carefully to learn a bit of my style.

But after a long while she was on her back on the mat. I sat over her, pinned her hands down with one of mine, while the other was on her neck.

"You really are a special one," she told me.

"And you don't seem to be that intrusive," I answered and she laughed as we got up.

A couple more challenged me, but they all lost. The enthusiastic betting slowly ended as only a few kept being willing to bet against me.

The main issue, that made it easy for me to win, was that they generally seemed too schooled in their fighting. I had a feeling that they seldomly were in really fights where the outcome was life or death. In difference, I was used to nightly fights like that and there were certain things you couldn't learn in controlled settings. An instinct that only came when you really feared for your life.

I wasn't sure for how long or how many I had fought. I sent the latest crashing to the ground and he admitted defeat.

"She ain't a witch," he grumbled. "She's a beast."

Some laughed, others seemed to agree. I didn't care, because I felt their respect and also felt as if I was becoming one of them and... I didn't hate that. Truthfully, I felt a belonging there with them that I had never felt with my coven, that I only felt before with Saida.

They were harsh in their words and they had said a number of rude things, but it didn't seem to me like it was said with malice. It was just a banter between them, and though several had been certain they would win against me, they generally admitted defeat without a fuss when they lost and the arrogance turned to respect in a blink of an eye.

"So who's next?" I asked and looked them over.

A cough came from behind me, from the entrance, and I turned towards it. All the vampires around me straightened their backs and exposed their necks towards the one standing there. It was Stuart and he had an amused smile on his lips.

"Alair is looking for you," he said. It was one of the first times I heard him speak as he hadn't said much during the dinner and I noticed he had a slightly Scottish accent. That figured with his red hair. "You wanted to attend the meeting? It's almost time for it."

I felt shocked at his words. Was it already ten in the morning? Had I been up all night? And not only up but actively moving through most of it? It didn't feel like it. My body and mind still felt alert and not at all tired and drowsy.

"But," Stuart continued, "I think you'll have time for one more fight."

He took off the bomber jacket he wore and handed it to the nearest vampire. Underneath he had a plain white t-shirt and his pants looked both fancy and nice as well as comfortable and flexible.

He slowly stalked towards me and my senses went on high alert. Already from his walk, I knew that the fight would be much harder than any of the others had been. And I was right.

It took me less than a minute to wish for my knives. The other fights had been on a level that I hadn't felt the need for that extra addition, but as soon as the fight with Stuart started, I could feel how much I often relied on them. My normal fighting technique was based on that I was fast and agile. I could easily dodge most attacks and with the knives in my hands, I could do a small amount of damage while dodging. I would make cut after cut that slowly weakened my opponent until I was able to overpower them.

With the other vampires that night, I had been able to see an opening, a weakness, without that assistance. But Stuart was far too quick, far too agile, far too strong, for me to see any. So all I could do was dodge, over and over, until finally he got a hold on my arms behind my back, his other hand grabbed my hair to bend my head and if it had been a real fight he would have sunk his teeth into my neck.

"You are used to fight with weapons," he said as he let me go.

I nodded.

"You need to learn to not rely on them. You have the speed and the agility, but you lack strength. Though that's not needed if you learn how to better attack your opponent's weak spots," he told me and walked over to take his jacket back. "Shall we?" he then asked.

I had momentarily forgotten about the meeting again, but remembered at that. I quickly went over to Everett to get the money I had won. After having counted it through, I gave him ten percent of it. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"It's only fair. If you hadn't challenged me into the first fight, I wouldn't have won any of this," I said and shoved the money at him, then left before he had time to protest.

"What do you think of their abilities?" Stuart asked as we walked up the stairs.

"They are good. But they lack true experience," I answered honestly and he nodded.

"Yes. Few of them have met a true battle. The long peace has been very unfortunate."

He looked at me and must have seen my distaste at his words because he hastily added: "Don't misunderstand me. Naturally peace is good. But peace has a tendency to not last and I fear that war is drawing closer."

"What do you mean?"

He stopped. We had reached the third floor and stood at the beginning of its corridors. He looked me up and down, evaluated me.

"You do not have much to do with your coven. Am I right?"

I nodded.

"And when you do, you don't tend to question actions?"

I wanted to refute him, but I couldn't. The times the Priestess had asked for my assistance in various matters, I had always followed her orders, never reflected over why she was in a conflict with whoever she was.

"I suggest you do. Witches have always held the most power among magical creatures and logically so. Witches do possess power that, when rightly used, is unmatched by any. Except perhaps the faeries, though they seldomly bother with others. But witches as a group have grown more and more arrogant and I fear it's only a matter of time until they cross a line that causes war."

I swallowed and felt my nerves tighten at his words. It also made me wonder, for I had never thought of how witches were regarded by other beings.