He came unexpectedly, I never thought he was real. Of course, the rumors about him were only rumors. I felt his presence long before I saw him. Slowly, over my life he began to show me his power. First his magick, showing me I also had power. Next, he showed me rage. The rage that can take lives, and steal souls. My soul was what he was after, or so I thought. He soon taught me to keep the rage inside.

After that, I began to take form. Thinking I could fight him was impossible. His power was intriguing, and overcame me. He taught me to see like him, my eyes turning cold, and never blinking. My thoughts would whirl and the rage would crawl beneath my skin. My fists would clench to the point where my hands were bleeding. I didn’t mind the scarlet blood making a river down my skin, into a lake on the floor. I think I enjoyed it.

Then came the day he arrived. The vampire looked as I had seen him in my mind. No other mortal knew what he looked like. The leader of the vampires, Roxen. Handsome, ebony hair sweeping into his icy cold aquamarine eyes. Eyes that blazed like fire, and lips that were crimson. All his features stood out well with his pale, fair skin. His voice was deep and smooth, immortal.

“ Hello Trian.” He said, not using my mortal name.

“ Hello Roxen.” I replied, and walked up to him. We both wore suits, and stood tall, our eyes locking. “ What have you come for?” I asked, not taking my eyes away from

his.

“You could feel me all your life, Trian. The power is taking over your mind, and your sanity. You get a shiver down your spine when you feel it. You see things the way I do. You tell me what I want.” I stood there for a moment, knowing he was right. His soft, mellow voice kept me calm.

“ All you want,” I began. He looked at me and I looked into his mind. “ is me.” I finished, and he nodded slowly. He never took his eyes off of me.

“ Now, the real test Trian. Tell me why, tell me why I want you.” His eyes sparked with excitement.

“Because, I am powerful and I know how to control the power, and the rage.” I said concentrating on his thoughts.

“Very good. Now tell me what we are going to do.” he asked. My answer to him was the one answer he least expected.

“ I will fight you. if I win, I will become you.” The right answer.

Weapons formed in front of the us. A sword for Roxen, and a staff for myself. I grinned and took a step forward as I took the staff in my hands. The thick wood was as red as blood. A gold intwinding gleamed around it, and the top was sharp as a dagger.

I swung the staff close enough to him to get the fight started. He dodged and moved in for my gut. I slid to one side and kicked my foot to his ankle. He was up in a flash and slashed the back of my leg. I twirled on my other leg to face him, using the momentum to swing the staff. He ducked, brought up the sword to block and kicked my gut.

I landed on my back, rolled over and leapt up. Grinning, he tried some show-off tricks with his sword, and I repeated with my staff. We continued fighting till day break, which was when the contest ended. We were both dripping blood, he had turned mortal during the fight. His hair had turned brown, and his eyes green, like mine. Only the gods were to decide who was the leader of the vampires now.

The weapons disappeared and we stared at each other again. For a few minutes nothing happened, then I saw his eyes become the blue, and his hair become raven. I thought I had lost. Then he gasped. I saw my skin drain color, and an energy raise in me. I could see myself in the eyes of my brother. My hair was an immortal color of white, and my eyes as icy as his.

We had tied, we were both immortals. We were bothers, we were the vampire leaders. Roxen grinned at me, and bowed his head. I did the same, and we both vanished out of the room to the immortal realm.