What's an ascendant?

"I hope you'll forgive my ignorance," Jay started.

"Of course. You are young after all," Thirax interrupted.

"Thanks. Anyway, what exactly are we doing?" Jay's question silently projected into the massive dragon's mind because speaking would have been pointless. Even with the incredible ears of a dragon, moving at the speed they were moving, the wind would have torn the words from Jay's mouth as soon as he had opened it. They were perhaps thousands of feet in the air, well above the clouds, moving at speeds unfathomable for the young vampire.

"We are seeking your ascendant," Thirax explained. Before Jay could even ask Thirax continued, "The vampire who made you what you are today. He appears to have committed a terrible crime, and I will have him answer for it."

"And that crime was making me?" Jay asked.

"Turning you to a vampire was not a crime necessarily, but the fact that you do not know who turned you only increases the likelyhood that the treaty has been broken," the ancient dragon spoke much more calmly about the treaty than before. "We will find your ascendant and if necessary he will face judgement."

"So, there's the question, that being how exactly are we going to find someone I don't even know? Or remember in case some kind of weird centered amnesia thing is involved," Jay sounded a bit confused. Thirax smiled.

"Your nose is very sensitive, is it not?" the ancient dragon asked.

"I get the feeling I wouldn't really need to open my eyes to walk around these days," Jay quipped.

"Very good," Thirax laughed. "I am much the same except that I don't need my eyes to fly."

"That kinda... oh... wow," Jay laughed.

"I am following your scent to where you were initially turned," Thirax further explained.

"That hardly seems possible!" Jay wondered. "Wouldn't all the, uh, smell particles be gone by now?"

"Don't forget that we dragons have as much magic in our veins as we do blood," Thirax told Jay. "The oldest of us, such as myself, are not so limited by what is possible."

"So you're smelling into the past?" Jay hazzarded a guess.

"That's an interesting way to describe what I am doing, and not so innaccurate!" Thirax laughed at the young vampire's description. "I feel that we will be successful within the hour, the scent is weak but the trail is not fading."

"Where are we anyway?" Jay asked. Sitting in the middle of a huge dragon's back did not provide many opportunities for looking down, and the incredible winds did not help either.

"We are approaching the human city of Amsterdam if I am not mistaken," Thirax replied, banking slightly.

"How in the hell did we get here so fast?" Jay gasped aloud. Thirax chuckled.

"I am flying very fast you know," the old dragon lightly scolded the young vampire.

"You're flying faster than I ever could have imagined possible," Jay shook his head. "Even for a dragon I imagined there would have to be limits."

"The limits of possibility are mere suggestions to a dragon of my age," Thirax smiled, though the young vampire could not possibly see it. "Please hold tight for a moment." Jay gripped the spike he had been holding desperately as Thirax banked into a sharp turn.

"I'd like to get off the ride please," Jay groaned as Thirax slowed and began to descend. Thirax chuckled as they landed, and seconds later, Jay stood next to a man with odd brown hair who had been a two hundred foot long dragon mere seconds ago.

"That's handy," Jay commented as the green faded from his face.

"Indeed," Thirax agreed inspecting his human form. "I have not taken this form in a very long time. It is good to see I haven't lost my touch." Thirax flexed and walked about, seeming to remember how to be a human. While he did this Jay looked around. As was right with Jay's destiny, he found himself in an alley, presumably in Amsterdam.

"Uh.." our young vampire friend was at a loss for words.

"Yes, we are in Amsterdam," Thirax informed Jay. "Your ascendent is here. Finding him may be difficult, but I assure you we will find him."

"Actually," Jay said after a moment, "I was more wondering what I should call you if we're going to be wandering around the streets of Amsterdam. I can't just call you Thirax, as that will probably stick in people's minds."

"Thirax has served me well in my centuries of life," the dragon almost sounded miffed at the idea that his name was somehow unbefitting this current time. Jay glanced the seemingly young man next to him. Aside from the hair, Thirax's human form looked normal, though very muscled and tough. Jay smiled suddenly.

"I got it, I'll just call you Axe," Jay suggested. "You look tough enough to be a biker, so people could totally go for that. You'll probably want to change your clothing to leather though."

"Axe, eh?" The dragon looked amused. He shook his head then his clothing blurred into something more appropriate. Jay blinked.

"You look exactly like I was imagining you might," the vampire commented.

"Well, since I was not quite sure what would look appropriate, I simply took your idea and ran with it," the dragon newly dubbed Axe replied.

"I didn't know anyone could get into my head that easily," Jay looked disturbed.

"I understand your concern," Axe attempted to mollify the young vampire. "Your defenses are well designed, but I have centuries of skill to your years. I will help you strengthen your defenses another time if you wish."

"By 'another time' you don't mean like an elf's 'another time', do you?" Jay asked warily. Axe laughed.

"No, I was not vaguely referring to the coming century, as 'another time'," the dragon turned human chortled. "We dragons are far more reliable than elves, and we do understand time much more as humans do. I meant after we have finished what we have to do here and have returned to my lair that I might assist you."

"Ok, just checking," Jay nodded. "I once had an elf tell me he'd get right back to me, and I haven't heard from him since. That was almost six years ago."

"Sounds like an elf to me," Axe rolled his eyes. "Shall we seek your ascendant?"

"Sure, let's get this party started," Jay agreed. Though Axe had never heard the term, it was easy enough for him to glean the meaning and nod. The vampire and dragon in disguise walked into the Netherlands night.

A wicked shadow...

Something dark flitted from shadow to shadow, barely gracing the light with its presence. Many people glanced over when they saw movement out of the corner of their eye, but as none saw more than that, they shrugged it off as nothing more than a flikering light. Had they known what lurked in those shadows, none would have been so calm. That which lurked in those shadows moved with one purpose: murder.

This creature moved through the shadows seeking the perfect prey. A creature of the night, it hunted as it always hunted, slowly picking its prey. Though it did not need to kill, over time it had grown to love to kill. Its hunger for murder had grown through the ages, and tonight that hunger had to be sated. It sought what it always sought: an innocent, pure and clean. They were rare these days, but that made the hunt all the sweeter.

Unbeknownst to the creature, another creature of the night was hunting as well. On his mind was not murder, merely dinner. Jay hummed to himself as he wandered the streets of Philly looking for a good place to eat. He knew that there were other vampires about in Philly, so when he first noticed something in the shadows he thought nothing of it.

The second time he noticed a flicker, his eyes narrowed. That was no vampire. Though Jay was rather hungry he felt he should investigate. Eternity gives one a lot of time to be curious. Jay slipped into the shadows and quickly sighted the other hunter. He glided gently after the creature not wanting to alarm it. It could be nothing to worry about.

The creature noted the vampire following him, but did not care. No vampire could interfere with this hunt. It continued to flit from shadow to shadow, tasting the air for innocence. At long last, the lovely flavor of truly innocent blood. The creature moved with purpose now, leaving the vampire far behind.

Jay smiled a dark smile as the creature moved away. Clearly this creature wasn't concerned about him. Though the creature moved faster than Jay could follow, the trail the creature left both in the shadow and not was easy enough to track.

Ignoring the vampire, the creatured flitted to a shadow then finally once more to find a shadow just behind it's prey: a mother walking with her young son. The creature shuddered with anticipation, its claws extended painfully slowly. The monster slavered at the coming violence and surged out of the shadows towards it's prey.

"Oof," Jay grunted as he slammed into the shadowy creature and dragged it back into the shadows before the woman could tell what had made the noise behind her. The creature shrieked in anger as it thrashed in Jay's arms.

"What the fuck do you think you are OW!" Jay tried to talk to the creature as it slashed open his chest with its deadly claws. The creature pressed his advantage opening up with a barrage of claws and bites. Jay dodged desperately, even returned a few blows, but the creature quickly succumbed to the hunger and slashed through the shadows, now openly racing after the woman and her child. Jay desperately raced through the shadows, using every trick he knew to keep up, but he couldn't stop the creature before it snatched the boy and plunged into the shadows with him.

The young boy screamed as the creature swirled above him, drinking in his fear. The monster dove at the child only to be torn down to the ground by a red eyed Jay. The two monsters slashed at each other while the little boy sobbed on the ground, screaming for his mother. Every time the shadowy creature tried to escape the snarling vampire, Jay ignored his wounds and dragged the creature to the ground once more.

Outside of the shadows the boys mother grew more and more frantic looking for her son. Other people on the street stopped and tried to help the terrified woman, but none could see the vicious battle in the shadows over the little boy. The boys screams grew increasingly desperate as the battle raged on.

"Could you give it a break kid?" Jay called to the kid while trying to strangle the shadow monster. The child stopped crying suddenly and blinked at the monster who had spoken. Then with the strange calmness that only a child can muster at the oddest of times, the child reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny flashlight before turning the flashlight on the fighting monsters. Jay flinched but the creature shrieked in agony and ripped away from Jay desperately trying to escape the sudden light.

"Woah! Keep doing that!" Jay yelled at the kid. Somehow remaining calm, the child kept trying to shine the light on creature. The two combatants, child and monster, moved back and forth vying for position. Slowly but surely the monster grew ever closer to the child. The child began to panic, but still tried his best to keep the light on the monster. Eventually the game was over and the monster moved to slash the child's face.

"NOW KID!" Jay suddenly surged out of nowhere to hold the creature still. The child dully did as he was told and turned the flashlight on the shadow. It shrieked and screamed, struggling desperately to escape, but within seconds there was nothing left of the smoking monster. Jay fell to the ground panting as he healed the injuries inflicted by the shadow. As soon as Jay looked at the child, the child began to sob once more. Jay laughed and shook his head.

"You get rid of the monster and now you start crying?" As Jay healed, his eyes returned to normal and claws receded. This did not stop the kid from crying. Jay sighed, stood up, and dusted himself off. Then he offered the kid his hand. The sobbing child took the hand without question. Jay glanced around and found, surprisingly enough, an alley to re-enter the real world from. Then he walked the child out of the shadows and around the corner towards the sobbing mother.

"Is somebody missing a flashlight? It seems to be attached to this loud kid," Jay laughed as he walked towards the small crowd around the sobbing mother.

"Kristoph!" the mother sobbed more happily. Jay's face twitched as he heard that name. "My baby!" The mother tried to talk, but what really mattered to Jay was her holding her son. Everyone in the crowd seemed just as happy.

"Hey... what happened to your shirt?" one of the bystanders suddenly asked Jay. The vampire glanced down to find his shirt shreded from the fight with the shadow monster.

"Well, I-What in world could that be?" Jay pointed off to the left adding a hint of command to his comment. The entire crowd, mother and child included, looked to where Jay pointed. Jay took the opportunity to quickly slip into the shadows and escape the questions he'd have to face. He turned back to a normal night of eating and then gaming. The first thing he said to K when he found him?

"Hey K! I think I saved your life from a shadow monster when you were a kid!"

* * * * *

From the tattered pile of shadows that remained after the fight, something stirred. Soaking in the darkness around it, the creature slowly rose from the ground. It healed slowly, but it healed eventually returning to its original state. It sniffed the air and quickly found a very familiar scent. With what may have been a smile, the creature slowly drifted off into the night to finish what it started.