“Rise and shine kiddo!” An absurdly chipper voice shook my shoulder far too early, and I rolled over to see a fuzzy outline shaking me.

“Huh? Whazza?” I mumbled, blinking away the sleep until I could see Katy smiling at me like the cat that stole the cream. “Oh gods, I’ve known you a day. Why do I already distrust that look?”

“HAHAHAHA! Aw, I love it! Catherine, he’s already picking up some important lessons!” Katy called over her shoulder.

“Oh? Like someone waking you up with a smile doesn’t have good intentions? Come on Brandon. We only have a half hour to finish breaking camp and get on the road. That includes breakfast for you and anything else you need to get done.”

A half hour was probably plenty, but I wasn’t about to force the entire caravan to be late because I wasn’t ready. So I dashed over to my stuff for a quick blood breakfast, cleaning my face and teeth afterward. Loading everything into the last wagon once again, I quickly found myself with nothing to do. One thing I had noticed after my ordeal was that I only needed to use the toilet about once per week.

Catherine sauntered up, raising an eyebrow and asking, “Ready already? Not too bad. There will be times where you have to get up and march with no warning.”

“Have you told him yet? I wanna see his face!” Katy said, bouncing as she walked over.

“No, I haven’t yet. Anyhow, back to what I was saying. Earlier we had decided we need to test your limits. Part of that is going to be your control. You mentioned vampire abilities, and we are going to have to push you on that. So I hope you enjoyed it, because breakfast will be your last meal for a few days. We will be monitoring your progress, and testing you the entire time.”

I started shaking my head, not liking this. “Hey now, you can’t just drop that on me out of nowhere.”

Katy gave me a grim smile, saying, “And what are you going to do about it? What’s going to happen if you are on a mission and can’t get a blood supply? How long can you hold out before you break? What would happen if someone captured you for a few days, didn’t feed you, and then dropped you in the middle of a city? Would you have the willpower to find a butcher shop, or would you turn the closest person into a snack?”

I started to make several different protests, stopping each time before making a sound. Each protest died in my throat, as I slowly realized they were right. Even now I had trouble controlling some reactions. If I was pushed past my limits, I had no idea what I would do.

“It’s ok.” Catherine said, pulling me into a side hug. “We’ll make sure that you can control it, and control it well. Today we should reach Stonebrook, so we can at least sleep in an inn. And if you can make it today without any food, we can have a bit of a celebration. That way you aren’t just thrown into this training. How’s that sound?” I nodded, but I probably shouldn’t have. I had already missed Katy moving through camp, adding small stones to a bag she kept on her hip.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

It was just after lunch, and I was starting to get rather grumpy. Catherine had decided that we could forgo the footwork for the moment, and simply spar across the wagon. Of course, she had the sword and I had the shield, and I wasn’t allowed to retaliate. “You need to practice your deflecting. That’s all we are working on.” Were her words before we started, and she was using her full range of sword strikes. While I was getting the hang of deflecting the thrusts, any time she mixed it up and went with a slash I would fall into issues. Getting the timing right to deflect how I wanted on a round shield was a pain in the ass.

*thwack*

“Ow! Damnit, would you stop that?” I snarled, having taken yet another small stone to some bit of exposed skin. This time it was my elbow, and it hurt like hell.

“Nope!” Katy smiled, shaking her head. “You need practice with many things, so we have to multitask. Not only is this fighting against multiple opponents, but it is also working on holding your temper. Tell me, how many times have you inadvertently dropped into vampire vision?”

“Twice.” I muttered.

“Hmm? I can’t hear you?”

“Twice!” I said louder, though I did keep my cool.

“See? This is only day one. You need a lot more work, and I don’t think stopping at Stonebrook will be a good idea. Arrowhead is another three days from Stonebrook, and I think we should press on. Catherine?”

I interrupted before Catherine could answer, “Oh come on! You can’t go changing the rules in the middle of a task! That isn’t fair!”

Catherine simply spoke up, “So? Life isn’t fair. I would think you would realize that when you were turned into a vampire. But you are partially right, we can’t expect you to just go for five days with no food. One day out of Stonebrook, you can have half a cup of blood for lunch. We can call it an emergency ration. I’ll warn Carl, so that they know you might be irritable on guard breaks.”

I still tried to reason them out of their decision, “Seriously? This is ridiculous.”

Katy answered, “Look kid. We are testing your limits, so you are going to be uncomfortable with it. You can accept the inevitable, and fight against it when it happens, or you can back out of our agreement and not go through with hunter training. We will be required to report this to our higher ups, but more importantly word will pass among the hunters themselves. You won’t be blacklisted, but it will be incredibly hard to find a spot. What do you want to do?”

I glared at her, wishing I could use just a bit of magic. Surely a small shock out of nowhere wouldn’t hurt, right? With a sigh, I gave in, “Fine. Let’s do it, and if possible I will try not to need the half ration of blood. Happy?”

“Content.” Katy said with a smug grin.

“Great. May I borrow an arrowhead to practice my magic? I’m sure you will find ample opportunity to hit me with your rocks.”

“Oh, but that’s no fun.” She pouted, before getting a slightly evil looking grin, “Or we could make a game of it? If I hit you in the head, I get five points. Body is one point, and arms are two. If I miss you get a point, and if you catch the rock you get five points. If I win, you do my camp chores for the night. That’s the dishes in case you were wondering. If you win, hmmm. Catherine?”

“Don’t look at me, I don’t have any ideas.” She shrugged.

“How about some cash?” I asked with a shrug. “I don’t have much on me.”

“Sure, we can do that.” Katy immediately answered, continuing, “One silver per point? Sound good?”

“Sure.” I said, reaching a hand out to seal the deal. She shook and as I was sitting back, took a stone to the forehead.

“Hehe, five nothing. Life’s looking good.” Katy giggled, and I started focusing on imbuing mana into the arrowhead.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Stonebrook wasn’t much different than Mountainhold, where I had grown up. Stone walls etched with Solaris’ protective runes encircled the town. The buildings tended toward stone instead of wood, but with a name like Stonebrook I shouldn’t have been too surprised. Once we passed through the gate, Katy reminded me of how I was doing, “Aaaaand, that’s the game! Katy wins, fifteen to three! Woot woot, no dishes for me tonight!” She started dancing in her seat, and I gave her a smile.

My response stopped her immediately, especially when I pointed out, “Since we are going to be eating and staying at an inn, I probably won’t have to do any dishes either.”

“It’s ok, you can just do my job tomorrow.” She said with a shrug, but I was already shaking my head.

“Nope. Not gonna happen. Our deal was that I would do your camp chores tonight. If nobody has camp chores, then that’s not my problem. You should have thought about that before making your deal.”

Catherine chipped in with a delightful laugh, “Oh, he’s got you there Katy. Third party judgement in favor of the newcomer, Brandon! Well played, but don’t expect it to happen again. She’ll likely be out for blood now.”

“I’m fine with that.” I said with a nod, hopping out the back of the wagon when it stopped. I listened to the last few orders from Derrick, but they weren’t too bad. Return to the inn and sleep there, we were leaving at dawn. That left me plenty of time to finish my personal errands.

First up was getting myself two more sets of clothes and a few rags for my face when we were traveling. Nothing expensive, but it did come out to a bit over fifty copper. A touch higher than what Mountainhold would have charged, but that was fine. I was expecting things to get more expensive closer to the capital. The other part was a leisurely soak in the public baths. I never realized I was spoiled with being clean back home, but going even a day without a batch set my skin itching with the dust. Perhaps the ladies were right? Not being able to go a day without a bath seemed rather, soft. There were three days to Arrowhead, maybe I should be pressing my luck there as well? Eh, I would cross that bridge when I came to it.

Hanging out at the inn after my bath just wasn’t doing anything for me. There was a small band playing, but they weren’t very good. I could easily tell that one of the strings on their instruments was ever so slightly out of tune, and it was especially grating on me. I’m sure it was getting ignored by the copious amounts of ale flowing, but something was niggling at the back of my mind. Once I figured it out, I headed over to sit down next to Carl, who had claimed a booth by the stairs leading up to our rooms.

“Hey Carl, mind if I sit for a moment?” I asked.

“Go right ahead kid. And feel free to ask.”

“How did you know? I mean, that’s not my actual question, but how?”

“Heh, just how you walked over. Not many young kids would be able to ignore the assets the barmaid has on display and head straight to talk with a boring old man, and you don’t strike me as one that prefers men. So, what’s running around in your head?”

I shook my head at his incredibly coherent answer, and pointed at his shirt. I accused him, “You’ve purposefully spilled ale on yourself, to make yourself look drunk. You’ve been watching the room, and not drinking. That answer was far too precise for someone who looks as deep into their cups as you do. So, are we expecting trouble?”

He slowly set his drink down, and leaned toward me a bit, “Not bad kid, not bad at all. Usually about a third of us decide to stay sober in town to make sure we all make it to our rooms. We rotate, and weren’t going to force you into doing it since you were taking the shit shifts out in the field. Don’t worry, we got this. Head on up to bed, I saw you wincing at that idiot with the out of tune guitar. No sense in both of us suffering the night away.”

“Thanks Carl. I appreciate it.” I said, heading up to my room. Well, the guardsmen room. I moved deep into the corner, and bedded down for the night. Despite my intentions, I slept a lot deeper than I intended. I didn’t even wake up when the rest of the company stumbled to their own beds, some alone and some with company.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The trip to Arrowhead was brutal. I opted to not take my emergency ration, and by the end of the day I was constantly flashing into vampire vision. Katy kept up with her stone barrage, and I lost horribly. The one point I got I was almost certain she had missed on purpose, but I cleaned the dishes with no issue. It actually gave me a bit of something to pass the time. I didn’t do any other hunter training that night, as the ladies decided it wasn’t safe. Not surprising, considering the dents I was leaving in my practice tree while working on my form. I could tell Carl was nervous from his heartbeat through the night, but damn could the man keep an impressive outer look. Even the smallest animals must have sensed something, as nothing dared to even approach the camp.

“Hey, Brandon.”

“Derrick? What can I do for you?” I asked, confused. We were only a day out of Stonebridge, and there weren’t many reasons for the caravan master to talk to me. Actually, there shouldn’t have been any.

“I know the ladies are trying to pressure you, but I think you should sit at the front of the caravan today. We’ll be going through a rocky patch, and I’ll point out some places along the way that bandits have been known to use as ambush points. You’ll need to be able to recognize them, and tell any strengths and weaknesses. Tomorrow you can do more of your training.”

Not leaving me any other choice, Derrick turned and strode toward his wagon. I shrugged and joined him, not really needing to do anything else. I know at least Katy had heard what was going on, as she had stopped eating her breakfast while Derrick was talking. Once we were loaded, Derrick kept true to his word. There were several blind corners that he would send a guard up to check, or around to flush out any ambushers. The most harrowing part was when we had to go nearly a mile with a river to our right and a cliff to our left. Sure, it was wide enough for three wagons to move abreast, but the chance of attack from above was incredibly high. I only caught flashes of their life force, but I could tell that someone from our group was on the cliffs. Derrick later told me it was the ladies, and that they often handled dangerous tasks like that. That’s one of the reasons a hunter was always welcomed to join any caravan free of charge.

By the time we stopped for the night, everything living thing started to have a red aura. My stomach was cramping, and several times I caught my leg or finger twitching. Nevertheless, I powered on, making sure to describe my issues to the hunters. Katy seemed ok, but Catherine looked a bit worried. While Katy didn’t like it, they insisted that I not hold a watch that night. I tried to protest, saying that it was part of my duty, but I was overruled. As I fitfully slept, I could almost swear I was hearing something in my dreams, but I could never remember what it was when I woke.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Ah, this is so great!” Catherine cheered the next day when we entered Arrowhead. It was a large city, large enough that it was the seat of a barony. There were three levels to the city, but we would only be visiting the outer level. The middle level was mostly shops and middle class, while the inner city was the rich portion. I shook my head, getting back to what Catherine was talking about. “how he managed to catch nearly everything you threw at him. If he couldn’t catch it, he moved just enough to make you miss! Oh, it’s going to be great seeing you have to pay him 43 silver!”

I zoned back out, as the day had been incredibly trying for me. I had woken up normal, but found myself quickly falling into a state of hyper awareness. Every tiny motion in my field of vision was immediately noticed, and my reaction times were insane. I could tell by the tiniest twitch in Katy’s upper arm that she was prepping to shoot another rock at me, and the angle of the hand actually had a superimposed arc that the stone would take. To be honest, it was really unnerving me. It was also fueling a massive headache, and I could feel my pulse in my temple.

“Ladies. I think I’m going to need that emergency ration.” I muttered, and both of them immediately froze.

“Easy there Brandon, you’ve been doing great. We’ll be right here with you, but can you hold out for another hour? Then we can get you a bath and dinner.” Katy cajoled.

I breathed in and out heavily a few times, before nodding my head. I wasn’t trusting myself to speak, but I could power through this. Damnit, I was a farmer! Sure, they were looked down on by many as a profession that didn’t need much, but there was one thing we all had in spades, and that was stubbornness! Be it a stony field, a misbehaving animal, or some quirk of my quasi-vampireness, I could overcome it!

“Yeah. I can do that.” I eventually said, getting a pair of relieved sighs. Regret filled me the entire time I rushed through the bathhouse, as it was damn near full of people. The noise and concentration of that much life force was pressing in on me, distracting me more than those damnable rocks from Katy. So rather than enjoy washing off three days of grime, I did it in a hurry and headed back to the inn we were staying at. I completely missed that Katy wasn’t at the table, but did catch the cross look that Catherine was giving me as I made an arrow path toward my flask that she had.

“No! You can’t just do that here.” She scolded, slapping my hand as I reached for the nourishing blood I knew was within. “Sit here and wait, I’ll be back. And try and focus, see if you can listen in to my conversation. You’ll need an excuse as to why you aren’t eating.”

She strode toward the bartender, full of confidence. I slunk down in my chair, trying to seem relaxed as I focused on the conversation. To my utter surprise, the background noise dropped as I focused!

“Hey bartender, need a huge favor if you don’t mind.” Catherine said as she picked an empty portion of the bar.

“Anything for a pretty thing like you. Well, anything within reason.” He corrected, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

“Aw, you are too sweet! I hope your wife doesn’t hear you talking like that.”

“Darlin’, one look at you and my wife would be shovin’ me outta the way to take a try at you herself. Not that I’d be complainin’.”

“Really?” Catherine drawled, “That’s interesting. Alas, I’m working tonight. Blasted caravan master set me as one of the sober people.”

“Aw, pity that. Well, our door is almost always open next time you’re in town, but enough of that. You said you needed a favor?”

“I do. See that youngin’ over there? Bit of a gullible one, but who wasn’t at that age? Anyhow, he’s got it in his head that this here drink will awaken the magic within him. Got it from a shyster of an alchemist in the capital.”

“Ah, poor sap. Ain’t nothin’ gonna awaken magic that ain’t there to begin with.” The bartender nodded.

Catherine slapped the bar in agreement, “Damn right. I’ve told him time and again, but he ain’t gonna listen to a woman, let alone his distant cousin. Don’t bother me none though, it’s his own coin he’s wasting. The thing is, this stuff looks awful. And I know its damn rude to go to an inn and not buy a plate or a drink. So we have been butting heads on this, and I need a solution. The damn alchemist said he can’t be eating anything, and whatever he drinks has to be at least half this concoction. So I was wondering this. Could you fill a bit of an ale glass? Just give him a third. I’ll add in this ‘potion’ so the boy can drink, and of course we’ll pay full price for the cost of the ale.”

“I can do that, but before we do, I haveta ask. What’s in there that makes it look so bad?” The bartender leaned over, the bar giving a slight creak under his weight.

“Beets mostly.”

“Yer jestin’! Seriously?”

“As a vampire bite. Supposed to be beet juice from beets grown on a ley line, and they infused with the magic or some bullshit like that. Looks like blood if you ask me, though at least the alchemist managed to filter out all the little bits of beet. I doubt I could look at it if there were still little chunks in there.”

“Oh gods, stop!” The bartender gagged a little, continuing, “I’ll get yer small ale. Any refills you need, you just come on up here and I’ll hook you up. And hopefully before you get to the capital someone’ll smack some sense into that boy.”

“From your lips to the gods ears!” Catherine chuckled, and I heard her walking back toward the table after a few seconds.

“Beets? Seriously?” I asked as she slid the mug to me. It took every last bit of my willpower, but I managed not to down the drink in a single go. Sure, my hand was shaking the entire time, but I drank half of it and calmly set it down. I ignored the raised eyebrow, and closed my eyes as I felt the delicious liquid hit my empty stomach.

“Well, do you know anything that has juice that looks like blood? And is cheap enough that a farmer could afford? I thought it was a nice little lie.”

“I know, but you didn’t really have to make me out to be an idiot.” I said in a surly voice.

“Oh but I did. See, you really are a country bumpkin Brandon. We are trying our best to get you as much of the information you need, but there’s just not going to be enough time. So when you finally choose what path you take, you’ll already be starting a bit behind. Now, I was impressed that you resisted so long after that first taste. Finish it off, and I’ll get you another. You can have up to four tonight.”

I hadn’t even let her finish talking before I had downed the last of the drink, proud that my hands only shook a little bit this time. It was mostly to get the last drops to slide down to my mouth. Sure. I barely had time to sigh in relaxation, noticing that the pulsing life forces surrounding me had died down in intensity before there was another glass in front of me. This one I drank a bit slower. No need to rush. No idiotic bands causing a ruckus, just gentle conversations. Katy appeared with my third drink, but something was different.

“Hey.” I whispered, fighting down a belch. Where the hell had that come from? “Katy. Whasssit goin’ on?”

“Hmm? You ok there Brandon? You’re looking a bit flushed. That ale getting the better of you?” She chuckled.

“No no nonononono. Tis jusht a bit of ale. But. You. You’re lookin’ a bit frazzy. Frizzy? Fuzzy! You’re a bit fuzzy.”

“Just a bit fuzzy? Hmm, not sure what’s going on with that. Why don’t you finish your drink? Catherine is on her way with your fourth, and I think you deserve it. You did such a wonderful job weakening yourself on the trip over here.”

“Yepsh. I did it!” I agreed, but something about that sentence didn’t seem right. “Wait.”

Before I could think, Katy had her glass in the air, “A toast. To a job well done, and none the wiser.”

“Toast.” I muttered, taking a big gulp of my glass. “Hey, now there’s two of yous! I should put you back together.” I said, trying to stand up only to have my legs give out. Before I could flop to the floor, Katy had one arm and Catherine the other.

“Easy there Brandon! Here, its rude to not finish your drink. Finish it up, and we’ll help you to your bed. You deserve a good rest.” Katy cajoled, and her words sounded as sweet as honey. I didn’t want to be rude, so I downed the drink, though I probably spilled a bit in my hurry.

“Mwah! All done! Not rude!” I said with a giggle as the cup hit the table. Katy had reached out to grab my arm, making sure that it didn’t slam it down like I wanted. Damn, how did she get so strong? I was much stronger than her the other day? Oops, gotta move the legs. Girls are helping me to the room.

“Wait, I thought we were upshtairs?” I slurred as we passed the stairs.

“You’re too heavy for us to carry upstairs. We’ll let you sleep it off in our room, ok?” Catherine said.

“Okshay.” I said, feeling my eyelids drop.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Catherine’s POV

“Ugh, at least he took a bath but that ale mixed with blood stinks.” I muttered, trying desperately not to breathe too deeply. Luckily Katy was able to unlock our door with one hand, and we shoved the boy in and dropped him on the floor. He hit with a dull thud, but it would be fine. A small bruise was going to be the least of his worries. “I just wish we didn’t have to do this to him.”

“You know we need to.” Katy snapped. She tried to put up the happy face, but it had been wearing on her for a while. “Besides, how much of the Rowan pollen and Ginkgo extract did you use?”

“Enough to knock out a Blood Count for a few hours. I don’t know how he was still coherent there at the end.”

“That’s the point. From what we know, he’s just a fledgling. If he has that big of a resistance to our stuff now, imagine if he grows in strength? We’ll get the mark put on him, and if he survives it then we can at least rest easy in knowing he won’t ever become a vampire.” Katy said. I wish I could have agreed with her, but she always expected the worst in people, and a lot of the hierarchy agreed with her. Their philosophy was to always assume the worst in people, and always be pleasantly surprised when you are wrong, but it just felt like a terrible way to live your life to me. “Watch him, I’m going out to get our support. We’ll come back at one.”

“Ok.” I nodded, locking the door after she left. I crouched down to look at the poor kid, wiping a bit of his hair out of his face. “I hope you’ll be able to forgive us for this Brandon. I don’t agree that an evil deed done for the greater good makes it a good deed, but I’m just a lowly soldier.” With that, I slid the silvered manacles on him and made sure they were tight. The enchantment glowed for a second as it activated, then died down to make it look like they were simple iron.