Chapter One

Without remorse, I watched the frightened vampire's eyes dark trace the length of the silver blade until he found my own gold ones. One good swallow and his adams apple pressed against the tip, but not hard enough to puncture the skin of his throat. I withdrew the sword only to snatch him by the neck and press him against the wall, replacing the blade.

"Who are you?" The words were careful, halting. His eyes didn't move off me for even a second as Dre chuckled behind me.

"No one good. Where's Errol?" I played the flat of Onyx's blade against his cheek, watching to see if he flinched. I was impressed, the vampire didn't seem to be underestimating me like most people do, though Onyx and Dre might have something to do with that.

"Who the-", I cut him short, drawing the blade gently across his throat, bringing a slight line of blood to the surface. He did flinch this time, the silver stinging him.

"He's in the Land. Ian took him there, last night." He then added quickly, "I can show you how to get there. The entrance is hidden. Only me and Ian know where it is."

I tilted my head to one side, "Really? Do you know why I use these blades, rather then my gun?"

He carefully shook his head, trying not to nick himself on the edge again. I nodded once, and in a fell move had flipped Onyx around so it's hilt was in the vampires face and the 15 inch blade rested against my arm. The hilt wasn't that ornate, with the exception of the pair of paws that clasped silver blade and the onyx stone set in the pommel.

I then took my hand off his throat, unsheathing Onyx's twin. In less then a moment Onyx was embedded in one side of the wall, and Diamond on the other, making an X over his neck.

"This is Onyx and Diamond. My twin blades, they've belonged to many Guardians before me and will belong to many who follow me. They have killed many vampires and lycanthropes alike and, where as with a gun I'd not be sure you were dead until I got your heart, I can easily cut your head off." I took the swords from the wall, re-sheathing Diamond but keeping Onyx at the ready.

"Now, take us to this 'land'. If you do not get us to Errol while he's alive, my twins will be feeding on your blood." I backed away from the vampire, not giving him my back, until I was even with Dre. He was a good foot and a few inches taller then me at 6'3 and was rather well muscled. Dre looked much more the part of a bodyguard then I did, at a petite 5'1.

I looked up at Dre, "Think you could handle him while he shows us where Errol is?"

He laughed again, black eyes glinting, "Of course I can." He looked to the vampire, red dreadlocks falling over his shoulder, "I'll have some fun, too, I think." Surprisingly, our vampire remained unmoving for the most part- probably not wishing to give up his hard won immortality. Five hundred years of life will make you either cautious or cocky, and when you are the last of the Aztecs you tend to go with the former.

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"Ok, it's somewhere near...those trees, right over there." The vampire pointed to a cluster of tree's that looked exactly like every other one we'd passed while tromping through the forest. He had kept in line because Dre had his arced hand blades wrapped around both knuckles, and one hand pressed flat on the vampire shoulder.

"Show us." I took both Onyx and Diamond out of the sheaths on my back. It was never good to hesitate when dealing with vampires, and the fact I could never be sure my gun was working made me nervous enough to have both of the twins out.

He led us over to the trees he had motioned at, pulling aside some bushes. I was prepared for some great swirling portal deal and was greeted with...foliage. None to gently, I tapped the back of the vampire head with the hilt of Onyx, "Where is it, boy. Talk."

"Step, step into the bushes!" He cringed away from me, only to have Dre stop him with both hands.

I sighed, and stepped over the plant onto the ground. Except, my foot sunk a little bit, feeling much hotter then it should have simply on the leaf litter. I quickly drew back, sand falling off my sneaker, "What the heck is that?"

"The Land. Errol is there, Ian took him. This is the only entrance in this part of the country."

I nodded slowly, gaze traveling between the bush and the vampire, "Uh-huh. I see. So, how do you get through it? Just step all the way in the bush?"

"That, and you have to crouch a little bit and walk forward."

I heard Dre slap his back, followed by his deep voice, "If you're playing us, you'll be played...and the fun'll be ours, not yours."

I glanced back one more time, and then stepped forward again. This time I let my foot sink until I felt the ground solidify before climbing over hands first. My palms met the scorching sand as I fell headlong. Tucking my head down, I rolled on to my back to lessen the fall. I slowly opened my eyes, then closed them part way when I was half-blinded by the noonday sun. Cursing under my breath, I sat up to look around, only to see Dre land hard on the ground, blood flowing from his lip.

"Dre? What happened?"

He sat up, wiping at the blood with a growl, "The vamp is faster then we thought. He threw me in here, after punching me of course." Dre let a string of curses fly, finally taking a proper look around their new environment.

"We were had! How are we supposed to find Errol in this mess of a place?" Dre was on his feet; braids spinning around his head while he looked around for any sign of humans. I joined in the search, only seeing sand dunes and the occasional sand snake.

"Dre...What's that, over there?" I stood at the top of a particularly tall dune, and pointed at a black spot in the distance. I felt him come within inches of my back, eyes following where I pointed.

"I think; it looks kind of like, a temple or something." I looked back at Dre, and then started to walk.

"Well, let's get there before we die of dehydration." I pulled my long, light brown hair up into a ponytail to get it off of my neck. I was already starting to sweat, and if we didn't get to some sort of shelter soon the sheaths would be a major annoyance, as well as the weight of the gun at my waist.

Chuckling, Dre caught up to me easily, keeping pace and not saying a word to distract me. That is one reason Dre was one of my few friends- he knew me as well as anyone ever could.

((Hey, Pet here. Just a little info about the story- this is part of the multi-author project launched by SlayerSlade6987, so go check it out... I should have chapter 2 up soon enough. Thanks much, and don't ferget to review...^n.n^ Feel free to point out a problems with the story that you see, I don't catch anywhere near all of mine.))