Dracule; Race, refugees from a destroyed world, vampiric however consider drinking human blood for food to be abominable, life span ~2,000 years, create and carry their young in same manner as humans, can create turned vampires, powerful mind-speakers, can change limited shape, cannot tell a falsehood because of mind to mind meld contact, only one known individual that could create Human Hybrids - known as M'beleci Captain of Dracule, omnivores
Turned Vampire; Created only by the exchange of blood fluids with a Dracule (see Dracule above) or a Hybrid (see Hybrid below), light sensitive, strong sunlight is fatal, cannot create other turned vampires, cannot create or bear young, vampiric however consider drinking human blood for food abominable, life span less than 2,000 years, mind-speakers, cannot tell a falsehood because of mind to mind meld contact, extremely loyal to their maker, referred to as childe, omnivores
Hybrid; Correct term is Human Hybrid, created by exchange of blood fluids with two hybrids known as makers, progenitors of the race are known as Roger and Little Bear, somewhat sensitive to strong light, can change shape in many forms, extremely powerful mind-speakers, can combine with other Hybrids or Turned Vampires to create extremely powerful long range mind-sweeps, cannot tell a falsehood because of mind to mind meld contact, can read minds of human, turned vampire and Dracule, believed to be able to control human minds or plant false images, vampiric but consider drinking human blood for food to be an abomination, there is a life-long maker/childe relationship, cannot create or bear young, have an almost fanatic urge to protect humans particularly children, have an intense hatred of those who would harm humans particularly children slavers, can be savage fighters of great ferocity, life span unknown but believed to be greater than 2,000 years, form life long relationship with their mate, only occur in the male form - no known female Hybrids exist, it is not known how many mated pairs exist, also known as Spirit Warriors, Roger is Captain of Hybrids, omnivores
Roger and Little Bear were relaxing for the first time in many months. The Kings, King George of The Australian Hegemony and King Fala of The Kingdom of Hawaii had successfully combined their two governments and peace was settling over both. Their people had finally accepted that they were Hybrid and a mated pair. There was an occasional snide remark, but the number of Turned Vampires in both governments made such remarks extremely dangerous because of the Vampires' loyalty to both young Kings. Trade with Mariposa was at an all-time high and citizens of all three nations freely traveled between them.
Roger and Little Bear had just settled down for a light lunch at their home in Cairns, after having spent the morning fishing for Marlin off the Great Barrier Reef. Roger was laughing, "Sorry Bro, my fish outweighed yours by 50 pounds!"
Little Bear started to reply when both men heard, "Roger, Little Bear, we have a problem, come at once!"
Both recognized the mind signature, King George. Recognizing that King George would not have called so urgently unless there was a dire problem, both men ran for the open porch, changing shape as they leaped into the air. Both assumed the form of Sea Eagles and sped to Sydney, where both Kings were in residence. It was an hour's flight, they landed on the balcony of the King's Apartments and entered the room. Both Kings were waiting for them in the company of a small brown man, only about 4 feet tall and who appeared to be quite young. The man was covered with bandages, his face bruised and his right arm in a sling. Roger quickly sent a light mind-probe across the young man and what he saw enraged him. His vampiric heritage began to manifest, eyes glowing red and fangs dropping. Little Bear followed suite and the young man cringed in terror.
Roger said, "Do not fear us, Ging-Li, only those who harmed you are in any danger."
The young man stammered, "You know me?"
Roger rushed to the man and held him gently, "No, Ging-Li, I do not know you yet, I merely lifted your name from the surface of your mind. Come, sit with us and tell me what happened to you."
Ging-Li broke into tears, never had he met such kindness from strangers. From the first time he reported to the office on the pier, where he had landed his fishing boat, to being hustled directly to the Kings and now these Fabled Warriors were showing him such kindness he had never experienced before! He was just a poor fisherman, not anyone important!
Roger looked him in the eyes and said, "Ging-Li, all are important, even the least of us."
Thus encouraged, Ging-Li related his story. "My younger brother and I were fishing off the coast of Darwin when a sailing vessel crossed our course. Before we knew it, they had thrown grapples at us and secured my boat to their ship." He paused to wipe his tears before continuing, "They grabbed my young brother, he is only 12 years old! Then they cut my boat loose and sailed away. I don't know where they came from or where they went!" At that, he broke down completely. Roger held the young man as he sobbed, "Guon-Li is all I have left in the world, our parents are dead and now he has been taken from me!"
Roger turned to the two young Monarchs, "Lend me a fast destroyer that we may right this wrong."
King George replied, "The HMAS Roger, our newest and most powerful cruiser awaits you at the Navy Pier, ready to go!"
While Roger was speaking with the Kings, Little Bear said to the young man, "Would you allow me to heal you so that you might accompany us in rescuing your Brother?"
Ging-Li replied, "You can do THAT? You would heal me, just a poor fisherman?"
Little Bear smiled, "Yes, Ging-Li that and more. Relax." He placed his hands on the young fisherman, they began to glow as Little Bear fed energy to the man's body. In a few minutes, Ging-Li sat up and ran his hands over his body in wonder. Little Bear laughed, "No, Ging-Li, it is not magic, I merely fed your own body with energy so that it might heal itself faster!"
Roger and Little Bear took their leave of the Kings, taking Ging-Li with them. As they raced for the Naval Pier, Roger mind-shouted, "Hol, Mite, Gyele, Mayas, ATTEND ME!" As the three men raced down the pier, four gigantic screaming Birds of War landed before them and changed into young Hybrid Warriors. Ging-Li's eyes went wide with fright! Roger said, "Fear nothing that you see, we ARE going to rescue your brother!" They ran up the gangway of HMAS ROGER, their newest cruiser! Roger groaned, "Not this too!" They ran to the bridge, telling the Captain to get underway immediately!
The ship pulled away from the pier immediately and went to 'General Quarters'. By the time the ship reached the breakwater, the boilers were straining under the load. Captain Kilpatrick had served with Roger and his Hybrid Warriors before! Ging-Li watched in amazement as the Hybrids joined hands in a mind-meld, reaching out in search of the captured child. The ship's rigging began emitting sparks and the magnetic compass began twirling around like a wheel with energy leaking from their powerful minds! The water-tight doors on the bridge were vibrating on their hinges as the Hybrids poured power into their search.
Suddenly, Roger screamed, "Got HIM!"
The helmsman, who also, had previously served with the Hybrid Warriors, watched for Roger to point the course and then he slammed the Engine Order Telegraph to "FLANK AHEAD"! Down in the engine room, the boiler firemen started all the fuel oil pumps to keep up with the demand! The huge ship's stern dug into the sea as the screws clawed with energy to drive the ship forward. The great steam turbines spooling up to maximum power in the effort to rescue a child from slavers! The Hybrid Warriors were "GOING TO WAR!" The ship had been specially designed for service with the Warriors and King George has insisted on naming the ship, "ROGER"!
All day and most of the night the ship ran at Flank Speed, ever closer to their objective. Roger kept his mind locked on the boy, Guon-Li. He was able to soothe the frightened boy, telling him his Big Brother was on his way to rescue him! Shortly before noon of the second day, the slaver's vessel came in sight. The "Roger" began to slow, coming to a stop directly in front of the sailing ship.
The Warriors shifted shape and six angry Birds of War descended upon the sailing vessel. They showed no mercy, and asked no questions as slaver parts were flung over the side! In the cargo hold, they found twenty young boys chained together. The flaming red eyes of their rescuers were enough to light up the entire hold! The children cringed in fright as angry vampires snapped their chains. Ging-Li had boarded the Slave Ship and was waiting on deck to comfort his brother. The little boy ran to him, crying in his fright. Ging-Li soothed him and the other captives telling them that the Fabled Warriors had saved them.
The children's eyes went wide, "The Hybrid Warriors?" they asked.
Roger and his Warriors smiled and carried each boy to the destroyer, where crewmen were waiting to clean the boys up and get a hot meal into them.
The trip back to Sydney was slower and more comfortable, the children became accustomed to the Warriors, who loved them and played games with them to keep them occupied during the return voyage. Roger feared the problem was deeper than this one incident, he queried each child, learning all they had observed during their capture and confinement. It was as he feared and he suspected the slavers were hiding somewhere along the Malay Peninsula.
Many of the children's parents had been killed during the raids and one child had been blinded. Little Bear sat with the child, "We can heal you, but you will never be the same. Only you can decide."
The child, Tong-Fu, asked, "If you heal me, will I be able to see again?"
Little Bear replied, "Yes, but you will be changed, you will be much like us, you will be a Turned Vampire."
Tong-Fu thought for a few minutes, "If you change me and I can help fight these evil people, I will agree."
Little Bear said, "When we return to our home, we will take you with us."
The little boy smiled and hugged Little Bear for all he was worth. When they arrived, all the children whose parents had been murdered, except for Tong-Fu, were taken to the King's Orphanage where they would be cared for and educated until they reached adulthood.
Roger and Little Bear took Tong-Fu to their apartments, reserved for them in the Palace. Ging-Li and his brother were guests of King George until Ging-Li could reestablish himself as a fisherman. Roger and Little Bear rested while Tong-Fu went through his change to be a Turned Vampire. When he emerged, he insisted on serving the two Warriors, he would accompany them for the remainder of his long life.
Roger and Little Bear consulted with the Naval Staff, poured over marine charts and spoke with various fishermen who had worked fishing the area between Australia and the Malay Peninsula. They finally formulated a plan and gathered all available Warriors to them. King George and King Fala insisted they be included also! After all, they too were Hybrid Warriors! Both Kingdoms contributed warships to the fleet, and soon two heavy cruisers, 10 destroyers and 2 supply ships gathered in Sydney Harbor! Admiral Isack Felton was given overall command. He, also, had prior service with the Hybrid Warriors and knew what to expect.
When the group of Hybrid Warriors, including both Monarchs, boarded the flagship, the sailors of the combined fleet manned the rails of each ship cheering and waving. That the Warriors were popular was an understatement, even children could recite each Warrior's name, and his mate and describe each in detail! Nearly every girl in both nations had pictures of one or more of the Warriors on her wall! Every boy dreamed of becoming a Hybrid Warrior!
As the ships sailed, every radio station would broadcast hourly the Fleet's progress! The ships sailed north around the continent, then east towards Malaysia. Every ship they encountered was stopped and interrogated, searching for clues of the whereabouts of the Slaver Home Port. The fleet sailed up and down both coasts of the peninsula, finding no trace, the Hybrids cast their minds far inland with no success.
Finally, at the northern end of a search leg, Roger had melded with eleven other Hybrids, the radios on all the ships had to be shut down lest they be burned out, few compasses in the fleet were reliable and energy crackled and sparked along the metal frameworks as energy escaped their minds. They fanned their mental patterns further than they had ever attempted before, at last, a spark of fear was detected and Roger pointed his arm for the helmsman to steer. Oil fuel began to roar through the ships' boilers and their sterns digging into the sea, straining to gain speed.
Nearly to the old borders of China, they had found their prey! They discovered a dozen sailing ships at anchor inside a protected harbor, the navy ships blockaded the harbor to prevent the escape of any slaver. Man shapes began to shift to Birds of War as they leaped from the huge ship's deck, a flight of twenty flyers, all screaming their rage, took flight and headed inland. What landed was almost indescribable, huge lions, a nine-foot gorilla, leopards nearly twenty feet from nose to tail end, some shapes were of things never seen by men before! The river of fear streaming from the slave pens so enraged the Warriors, gobbets of putrid slaver flesh were thrown almost are far as the waiting ships. Admiral Felton cringed in horror as did all those in witness to the Hybrid's terrible anger.
They found two thousand children held captive, waiting to be sold at auction! The very air crackled with escaping energy as the Warriors recovered the children. Many were injured and all were sick and diseased. The sailors of the fleet worked boats bringing food and supplies ashore to help the children, the Warriors worked around the clock healing all those they could, they expended so much energy, they required ten times the normal amount of food in order to continue! Some children they were unable to save. The Warriors could not restrain their tears. A handful of children required immediate Turning to save their lives, this, also brought tears to their eyes and anger to their hearts.
Admiral Felton, in an after-action report to his superiors, recommended special training for all those who would accompany the Warriors in the future, so intense was his witness, he asked never again to be assigned to the Hybrid Warriors.
The Warriors kept those children they were forced to Turn and the remainder were sent back to Sydney on one of the supply ships. The rest of the fleet continued searching as they had found information about a second slaver base! The witness had been so intense, sailors would break down in tears in the middle of a meal, for no apparent reason. The Warriors did what they could to ease the sailors' mental anguish, but they themselves were nearly overwrought by the children's pain and suffering!
Finally, after another month of searching, the second base was discovered. It was even larger than the first, there were thirty ships at anchor in the harbor! The fleet could not use their guns to destroy the slaver fleet for fear of harming the captives. That night every Hybrid Warrior, including the two young Kings, shifted and flew into the slaver base. It was so intense, when the Kings returned to the Flagship, they retched all they had eaten that day! All the ships played music on their loudspeakers in an effort to drown out the slavers' screams!
Nearly five thousand children were held captive in that base! Three hundred children needed to be Turned immediately to save their lives. Twenty children could not be saved despite all the efforts of the Warriors, King George and King Fala were inconsolable! They cried for days over the loss of those twenty children! The Warriors spent two weeks healing injured children, their energy expenditure was monumental! When it was finally safe to move the children and adults they had rescued, the former slaves were all evacuated to the waiting ships and the slaver base burned to the ground.
The fleet proceeded to return to Sydney where large crowds awaited their arrival. The children who had required Turning stayed on board until dark, the remaining children came ashore and were gently led to waiting busses for transport to the King's Orphanage. It was a testament to the generosity of the people of both Kingdoms, the longest any child resided in the orphanage was two weeks! Many were "pre-adopted" before they ever arrived!
Roger and Little Bear returned to their home, accompanied by their new Childes. Their home, much like a small fortress had a plentitude of space for Turned Vampires. The Childes received a full education and many would remain with their Makers for the remainder of their long lives. The local children were always welcome at Warrior House, there were always children to play with! What the local children never knew was that many of those "children" were as much as 200 years old!
The problem of the slavers continued to disturb Roger and Little Bear, they were like locusts, destroy them here and they sprang up there! They recruited a number of their Childes and set them to work plotting all sightings of unknown ships, slavers, suspected pirates and such. Before long, they had charts showing congregations of ships, courses and possible harbors. They took those charts to Sydney and conferred with Navy experts, who were able to add even more information to them.
They next showed the charts to the two Monarchs and their advisors and a plan of action was devised. The Kings ordered their governments to ready a fleet. Roger called his Hybrid Warriors together. When King George and King Fala asked to be included, both Roger and Little Bear said, "NO". They were needed to keep the governments stable! The fleet was divided into, North Fleet and South Fleet. North Fleet was to be commanded by Roger and Little Bear, and the South Fleet by Billy and Panther. The North Fleet would sail as far as Japan and drive the slavers southwards. The South Fleet would start off the ice shelf of Antarctica and work its way north.
There were twenty ships in each fleet. The Turned Vampires asked to be included, so each ship was assigned a complement of Turned Vampires to be communication nodes and assist in mind-melds during the search. This would prove to be of the utmost value and would become standard practice on all Combined Kingdom Warships in the future!
When both fleets were in position, they began their slow march toward each other. Many slavers ran for cover in a harbor, but were unable to escape the mind-net generated by these powerful beings. When they added the power available to them from their Childes, the Hybrids were able to extend their coverage in a band 8,000 miles wide! The energy being emitted was frightening, an orange glow of static hung across the entire band, and radio communication was disrupted throughout the area! In one case, an uninhabited island was set afire! Sea mammals, such as whales and porpoise swam away, screaming their terror!
Whenever slavers were encountered, their captives were rescued and the ships sunk, slavers still onboard! They moved slowly so as to miss no slaver! It required three months for the two fleets to finally meet, they had collected twelve thousand former slaves, eight thousand-nine hundred of them were children under the age of fifteen! On one ship they found babies less than 1 year old!
Throughout the campaign, the Hybrid Warriors were needed to heal and, in extreme cases, to Turn those who could not be healed! They added twelve hundred former slaves to that latter category. The combined fleet finally returned to Sydney, it was a mix of emotions for the Warriors. Joy that they could free those who were headed to a lifetime of misery in slavery, sadness for those they were forced to Turn, and the worst category, the nine hundred they were unable to save, tore at their very souls!
The two Monarchs recognized immediately, the awful rent in the fabric of their friends' emotions. Each welcomed every Hybrid Warrior home with hugs and, yes, kisses. The Hybrid Warriors, were victorious, but the cost to their souls was enormous, not for what they had done, but rather for that which they had been unable to do. Roger and Little Bear, each, carried a tiny baby off the ship, daring anyone to ask for the child. The same for all the rest of the Warriors, they each, also carried a baby in their arms. Silent, without smile or laughter, they each carried their baby and, without a single word, departed for their homes. The Warriors were wounded, almost beyond repair. Those babies were their lifeline to their humanity. In time, they would heal for who can resist the giggling antics of a small child?
It was many months before any Hybrid Warrior was seen in public, In Cairns, where Roger and Little Bear made their home, children would come and sit before their door, not saying anything, just sitting there letting the sad warriors know that SOMEBODY cared for them. It was the same for all the Warriors, it was the little children who rescued them, made them whole again and saved their sanity.
Slowly, they began to heal, they would be seen walking in a park or along a beach with small children holding their hands. The children did what no other could do, made the Wondrous Men whole again! They would never be as they were, their youth had been stripped from them, but time and their friends, the children, gave them back their Humanity!
Finally, at long last, the Hybrid Warriors regained their balance and were again seen in public. At first, the general public feared somehow they might damage these wonderful men who had done so much for them but now, as before, it was the children who demonstrated that the Warriors were still their protectors! Little girls would sit on their laps, young boys would engage them in a baseball game, and tiny children would be seen carried in their arms. Slowly, people realized what they had and what they almost lost. It was the children to whom these Fabled Beings were dedicated.
At their home in Cairns, it was another child who kept them stable, the Childe, Tong-Fu. He was only 7 years old, a Turned Vampire, but he was House Master for Roger and Little Bear. Nothing was allowed to intrude during their rest time. Nothing was allowed to disturb their peace. Tong-Fu was a four-foot-tall tyrant to all who would disturb HIS WARRIORS! He would never grow taller, but there would be few in his long Turned Vampire life who would dare challenge him. If you wanted to see or speak to Roger or Little Bear, you had to convince Tong-Fu FIRST!
TBC