Rise Of The Hunters

They were human. Just like the doctor had said they would be. But what to do with them? There was no way Xun was willing to take them back to the city. He really wanted to just kill them, but it was different killing people from monsters. Even knowing all of the horrible things they had done, did him no good. If they were awake and trying to hurt him, he might have pulled off killing them, but with them unconscious on the ground, he just couldn't do it.

Leaving them, he went and told the others to continue with their tasks that if any of them woke up and gave them a hard time, they could defend themselves, but now that they were human, his people should be able to defend themselves.

He headed back to the compound, stopping to inform Dr. Achak of the results, before returning to the city, were a large line of people were waiting to complain about his choices in bringing them here.

Compared to the problems the council had when people came to complain, only having to answer them by himself, really made it quicker and easier for Xun. It did get a little tedious having to explain a dozen times the same things over and over, but he would take that over having the fight a werewolf or vampire any day.

As the day wore on, the people sent to the compound for supplies started to return, and he was surprised when they brought one of the newly turned humans with them. The man was obviously furious, in the way he clenched his fists and ground his teeth.

"What right do you have in this mutation?" he demanded, once he was brought forward. A lot of people were sneaking into the back of the room, so they could see what was going on. Word had already traveled among them, that Xun had turned all of the vampires into humans, somehow.

"What do you speak of? I believe I merely removed a curse you had been plagued with. I believe you should be thanking me, instead of demanding an apology."

"Apology? No! I demand you remove whatever witchcraft you have used to return me to my rightful form."

"Witchcraft?" asked Xun confused. He had never heard that word before.

"Magic! Don't play the fool with me, all of you humans are no better than rats, hiding under rocks to be used as we see fit!"

Xun laughed. "If we are rats, then so are you. And I don't think you will be using any of us in any way that you see. I think you will find yourself just as insignificant as the rest of us."

There were several chuckles in the back of the room, and the former vampire whipped around, seething, trying to figure out who had laughed.

"My father will see to it that you are all wiped from the planet! He won't settle for this. The moment he realizes we never reached our destination, or return on time, he will send scores of vampires to find us. It will not be long before we are as we once were."

Xun tilted his head as the pompous fool continued to blather on about how his father would right the wrongs that had been done to him and his escort.

"Do you admit to committing crimes against humans, by killing and torturing them?" asked Xun when the brat paused to take a breath.

He was caught off guard and paused in confusion, so Xun repeated the question. Just in case he was dim witted as well.

"Of course, I have killed and tortured humans! You are nothing more than cattle to me, to be done with as I please!"

Xun nodded gravely as there were murmurs from the back. They had been called both rats and cattle. How many other animal references did he need to hear to understand that this person did not understand the sanctity of life? Maybe it became that way if you lived long enough, and the only other sentient life was your supper.

"It has been decided then. As punishment for the heinous crimes of such atrocities and for the lack of respect for life, you are sentenced to death. Take him away. And make sure none of the children see his death, or the body afterwards. There's no telling what nightmares it will give them."

The men who brought him smiled coldly, as they grabbed his arms. He may not have been able to kill him, but they definitely could.

"Wait! You can't do this! My father will rip out your hearts!"

The people who had snuck into the room were shaking their heads as he was dragged out, into the hall. From the looks on their faces, Xun didn't think he would have any problems with them complaining about his decision.

"Make sure none of his people know about the whereabouts of our valley, if it can be helped, and someone inform the doctor of this."

Several people nodded and hurried off. He was sure a lot of those newly turned humans were going to suffer the wrath of those who hadn't been able to purge themselves of the anger of losing loved ones. While Xun wasn't sure it was a good idea to let his people kill other people, he knew that the things those former vampires had done, could never be atoned for.

The rest of the day went smoothly. After his meeting with the former vampire, a lot of the people who were in line to speak with him, suddenly decided it wasn't so bad here after all, and got out of line. They had collected a large amount of supplies and returned back to the city before dark, in case any other strange visitors decided to show up in the night.