Flight of the Butterfly Man

By

Ayla Curtis

Chapter One: Peace Shattered

When not maiming or terrorising pathetic short-time mortals, what do you suppose a vampire does with his or her free time? The bloodlust, contrary to popular belief, is not permanent and so cannot occupy the vast expanse of immortality the un-dead must suffer. Though the vague hunger and the knowledge of the need to feed is always there it is no greater than a human's need for food and water (accept during the actual act of feeding or arousing cruelty)…unless it is deliberately nurtured into sadistic craving, which some do seem to enjoy doing.

The majority of vampires, however, prefer to simply take up hobbies and harmless little obsessions to satisfy them during the times that blood does not. I happen to be one of them.

I know many different vampires with many different hobbies. For example; one loves to read, as there will always be new books coming to the world and she says that nothing really can compare to the smell of an old volume…I say that she's gone funny in the head. Another that I know likes to build siege weapons; it's a pretty redundant thing to do, due to our utter supremacy, but it is definitely interesting and unique and it is always disappointing to watch him dismantle his latest completed project to begin a new one…he only ever designs and constructs one at a time. Some write, some draw and some learn new skills while others devote their attention to developing skills that they already possess.

I like to break windows and piece them together again. It all started when I found broken stained glass panels on the floor of an abandoned human structure. I had wanted to see what the picture it had depicted had looked like so I spent a while making it whole again. After that it didn't really matter whether there was a picture or pattern or not, I found some odd joy in being able to reconstruct even panels of broken clear glass. It is actually quite a calming pass time although it can become quite frantic when my fellow Razielim berate me for constantly breaking bits of our territory and they do have an unfortunate learned habit of pouncing on me whenever they see a heavy object in my hand. Has it ever occurred to them that there are other uses for such objects and that I just might not be about to hurl it at one of their precious windows?

It isn't even as if I have actually been around all that long.

I became a vampire only five years previous and for an immortal that is hardly any time at all. I am barely considered a fledgling by the elders, I'm just another of the invisible faces who help keep the species together. There are a few of them who will acknowledge my existence; master Raziel fore one and a select numbers of his older children that find my quirky behaviour and attitude amusing. To them I'm just a happy, sappy head-case who can make them laugh from time to time…I try to aspire to something more worthy than a court jester but that seems to be the path my life is taking me down.

At the present moment in time I was studying the pieces of my latest 'find'; I had wrecked the last pane I could find outside of the territory and brought it back to my dingy little camber to continue with what I liked to do best.

About an hour after I had settled down, cross-legged, on the bare stone floor and had become thoroughly engrossed with the almost lethally sharp jigsaw before me, I was interrupted by one of the few elders who speak to me.

"You have no idea how many complaints I hear about you, Maddrell." She said, stepping gracefully into the room I called home.

Her name was Calisra; five foot ten tall and elegantly slim with large dark child-like eyes. She was always impeccably dressed in the height of whatever the present fashion was considered to be even though she looked stunning in whatever she happen to dress herself in…unfortunately, her wild mop of untameable hair tended to spoil the aristocratic appearance. Most men would want for more shape on a woman and curvy was something that Calisra never had been nor never would be. She was one of the very few who could hold a lengthy conversation with me.

"Complaints, my elder?" I replied with an innocent tone and all the respect I could muster from my vocal chords. "Whatever would they be about?"

"Oh, drop the façade you silly man." She said with a smile as she closed the door carefully behind her and leant on the nearest wall. "You know exactly what I speak of."

"I'm sure that I don't." I sighed and picked up another sliver of glass between my thumb and fore finger. The reverent edge was gone from my voice as it was little more that a private game between us. She didn't care for bowing and scraping from the younger vampires she knew; she found it patronising.

"You're a little vandal, Maddrell. Since you arrived we have had to replace more glass each month than we used to have to each year. Can you not find another way to keep yourself amused?"

I made an effort of acting as though I actually cared and was thinking about the request. "No." I concluded simply.

She laughed. "I didn't think so, and I doubt that I could ever change your mind even if I wanted to try."

"How right you are." I told her…though if she asked me nicely I would do all sorts of things for her. I can't help but want to please people who are nice to me. I placed the fragment I held in its correct place next to its fellows and began to sift through the pile of others at my right hand side.

Calisra crossed the short space between us and joined me on the floor, smoothing her dress over her legs and peering at the glass I now held cradled in one palm for inspection.

"I don't know how you do it; they all look the same to me." She commented. "And there is no pattern to go by.

"Yes there is." I corrected her. "Look; the pieces become smaller towards the point of impact that broke the pane and the pieces nearest to it will point towards it as well. Also, if you look at the broken edge you can see lines, striations, and you can tell which side of the pane is which by the direction of them."

Calsira raised one eyebrow. "You are not so much of a clown as you appear. Sometimes I think that you could be quite an influence if you would only stop acting the fool half of the time. But seriously; you can't keep smashing windows."

I dropped the fragment back onto the pile and stretched to convince my muscles that they really didn't want to fuse into the position I had sat myself in for so long. Each joint produced a good hard cracking sound that tended to make other people flinch when they heard it. "But everything else bores me senseless. I am a slow reader so I would rather keep my distance from books, and neither have I ever been much of an artist. I'm not overly fond of making things and I have a very limited imagination, thus writing is out of the question." I explained, while popping each joint in my spine one after the other so that the sound rolled up my back.

Calisra winced as if in sympathy for the pain she though that I aught to be feeling…oh how I love it when I can disturb her collected demeanour! "Then why don't you try something new for once then." She suggested. "Like music, perhaps."

"Me? Music? Calisra you should know by now that I couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. My timing is atrocious and I can barely produce a single steady note when I try to whistle. If you remember rightly, the last time I attempted to sing I was asked where the drowning cat was."

"Oh don't pout." She said and followed the movements of my hands as I fished through the glass again. "You know, it amazes me how you don't cut yourself."

"Luck, I suppose…and concentration. You would probably find it easy enough." With this comment I indicated her claws; three shafts of thick skinless bone to each hand, powerful but with dexterity and delicacy when required. "Do you ever miss your fingers?"

Calisra adopted a smile sweet enough to put sugar to shame. "As vampires we will always be changing. Our bodies change just as master Raziel's does, and though you may regret loosing things what you gain will always be greater in the long run. Unlike humans we have millennia ahead of us and we will evolve as individuals as well as a species. Sometimes, biologically speaking, sacrifices need to be made for improvement to occur and fingers happen to be one of those things."

My hands, covered in only a paper thin layer of skin for protection, would one day be like hers. Thinking ahead to what it might be like I privately concluded that it would take a very long time to grow used to the inability to feel anything but ghost-like sensations. I think I will miss my fingers when the time comes even if I do not completely mourn their loss.

"Speaking of evolution." I said conversationally, taking my wrist into my hand and twisting it in such a way that it produced a sound so sharp and sudden you could have believed the bones within had been snapped. "How goes the master's latest change?"

"As well as can be expected, but we shan't fully know until he emerges. There has been no deviation in his condition, if that is what you mean."

"How long now before the metamorphosis should be complete?"

"Within the week I should think. But is only an estimate…you can make a good guess using the solidity and colour of the chrysalis."

"Bit like butterflies, isn't it?"

"Vaguely…I suppose it's a good enough analogy."

"What does it look like? What actually happens?" It would be a very long time before I would experience an evolution. I must admit that I am fascinated by the whole subject but have been unable to satisfy my curiosity; the State of Change of a vulnerable and delicate time and so master Raziel is closely guarded, as is any information regarding his situation. Such knowledge would be invaluable to the small pockets of human resistance left in our land. I find that the elders are unwilling to discuss such things, even to fellow vampires. Though they are important, times of evolution are quite a taboo subject; seen as highly private until they are complete and so discussion is not encouraged.

But Calisra has never really cared about enforcing such things…in fact; she seems quite open about them. She was happy to fill me in. "The State of Change itself is a period when the mind becomes dormant. The body falls into a comatose state and adopts a tight foetal position whereupon the skin will fuse into a single flat surface all over and peel away from the body to become the cocoon inside which the body develops the changes and re-grows new skin. The chrysalis will expand to accommodate any large changes and once a size large enough is found it will harden and darken till the body recuperates energy and settles. Consciousness will then return and the chrysalis can be split from the inside to emerge."

Just thinking about it as she explained it to me made my skin itch all over. "It sounds painful." I commented, resisting the urge to scratch.

"It may be, but as you are unconscious when it happens your mind would not register it and pay any attention. That is why it is such a fragile time; you are helpless and it is difficult to be woken until it is complete. The cocoon provides some protection but a determined person could easily find a way to break it."

"Calisra…you are one of those charged to protect the master during this time are you not?"

"Aye, we take it in shifts. Speaking of which, I really should be going to meet with my little team and relieve the others." She stood to leave.

"Wait…" I stopped her with a simple hand on her arm. "Before you go, might I ask you another question? I know it's not my place but…"

"What is it?" She could see my nervousness plainly planted on my face.

"The master…he…would I…I mean…" I wasn't sure how to say it, as what I was asking would probably be deemed as the height of rudeness. "Could I see him…?"

She simply smiled sweetly. "That permission is not mine to give. I'm sorry, but no." she patted me on the head as if I were a puppy, as she so often does, and then left me to my window.

-o-

The rest of the week passed without disturbance, we were unchallenged by the humans, blood was in no short supply, relations with the other clans were pleasant and the general air about the place was a calm and predominantly happy one. The days came and went and as they did it was inevitable that within the very same hour that I voiced my boredom with such peacefulness that an unforeseen attack was instigated. Patrols had become lax and so the armed human force remained unnoticed until they had all but breached the walls of our territory.

They had waited for the optimal moment to make their move; when our master was locked in his dormant state, when the sun was at its midday peak and when near all of us were resting (it may not kill us, but the smoke obscured sunlight can weaken and make any vampire tired). It was amazingly good fortune that they were spotted at all.

All that could be said was that a definite level of panic arose amongst most of the fledglings, and I am embarrassed to count myself as one of them…but it did not last too long, one we had reminded ourselves of just who we were. We had nothing to fear.

An order was given that all should 'rise to the challenge' (if it could even be deemed worthy of such a title…I think not) and as could be expected we all eagerly rushed to offensive positions, with cold anticipation of the blood to come exciting us all.

However; in my hurry to join the fray about to break out I sought a short cut through the twisting stone block passages that made the interior of our dear home. The path I took I knew well, but I had never taken it running before and my foolish speed combined with a polished floor led to my literal downfall. My feet shot out from under me without a hint of warning as I attempted another corner; it seemed that though my torso was willing and able to make the change in direction, my legs were not so compliant due to the conditions present. There was barely enough time for me to utter a gasped expletive that I do not care to repeat before I careened into a wall and dropped gracelessly down its neighbouring flight of hard stairs. It was my skull that struck the first step, rendering me completely senseless for the remainder of the way down…which could be considered a blessing. I recognised the thumps and snaps as varying parts of my body took the brutal punishment from the fall but I was far too dazed to acknowledge any pain. I ended up in a small aching heap at the bottom of the flight and it took a good couple of minutes before my brain actually came to terms with what had just occurred and notified the rest of me. Slowly, trying to deal with every hurt at the same time, I crawled to my feet and gave myself the once over. It seemed that, ultimately, nothing was seriously damaged except my pride…that had already taken quite a beating that week down to the usual antics I am foolishly goaded into by my peers.

Satisfied that I wasn't going to fall to pieces at a moment's notice and nursing a pounding head, I refocused my eyes and finally realised just where I had landed. Apart from being on the wrong floor and facing entirely the wrong direction from which I had intended, I found that I had tumbled into the hallway that currently contained master Raziel's chamber. During his evolutions he prefers to move to another more non-descript chamber in case of attacks like today…

The hall was empty; no one was around to witness my clumsy descent, which meant no one was guarding our sire.

But then again, it wasn't as if any human could have reached this area.

A faint sound settled in my ears, a quiet click and cut off creak…the sound of a door…

The master's chamber door was ever so slightly ajar…the creaking had stopped and the door was still but it was most definitely on the verge of being opened…or closed again? A second sound reached me that was far too familiar for my liking; it was a sound that any vampire could instantly recognise as it was the muffled thump of a body hitting ground.

An instant creeping sensation of nausea rose fast from deep within me and if I had been human I had no doubt in my mind that my heart would have been beating almost painfully hard against the confines of my ribcage. Was it possible that the entire frontal assault that we had all hurried to was nothing but an elaborate distraction to lure us away from an assassination attempt!

There was no time to alert and elder or gather help…there was just me…me and my bruised self. But even if I was half dazed and abused by a flight of stairs I was still a vampire above all else and was thus no match for any human…surely…

I moved swiftly so that I did not have time to contemplate hesitation and pushed the door firmly open while fixing the musty dark room beyond with a harsh glare.

My immediate sight held nothing as the room was, apparently, empty…but I soon came to notice the naked figure curled on the floor near my feet.

"Master Raziel!" I could not help but exclaim as I dropped to my knees beside him. He had emerged…with…wings!

I couldn't believe what my eyes were telling me even though it was undeniable. My sire's back now sported a pair of bat-like wings…wings that seemed weak and slightly crumpled, with sharp creases in the membrane, and bones that could easily be soft to the touch…like those of a freshly emerged butterfly it would appear as if they needed some time outside of their shell to become solid and complete.

The Change had taken a lot out of him, he appeared more pallid than usual and his skin was slick with sweat that plastered his hair to his face. He was wheezing even though he had no need to breathe and I could understand this. Most vampires have a habit of continuing such human actions, even though we do not like to admit it, it can be quite calming. The brain subconsciously remembers that such actions used to make you feel better and so they are brought into play again every so often.

Master Raziel's head rolled and one eye peeled ever so slightly open to blearily focus on me, tiny beads of moisture glinting on dark eyelashes. "…Maddrell…" his voice was not as strong as I had become accustomed to hearing it, barely a whisper it sounded pained and forced. "Help me up."

Dumbfounded, I shook my head clear of the surprise fogging it. There I was just sitting and gawping when it was plainly obvious how weakened he was. What a fool! "Of course, master."

I took one cold, clammy arm as gently as I could and hooked it around my neck, holding his wrist with my right hand, before proceeding to slide my free left arm about his waist. He appeared entirely unfazed by his nudity as no doubt this had occurred many times before in the past, but I cannot say that I shared his comfort.

As I moved to help him to his feet he winced sharply as my left arm slid upwards and put decidedly unwanted pressure on his new wings. I all but dropped him for fear I might be reprimanded or even punished for causing him to suffer any more than he already seemed to have. "I'm sorry!"

"Just hurry." Was all he said…no sharp words or angry remarks. "Help me to my usual chamber."

I nodded, did my best to keep from making any further contact with his fragile and sore wings and began the trek to the upper floors where master Raziel's chamber has its place…up where he can look over our territory and see the horizon stretching away across the land.

"Where are the others?" He asked me as we made our way, using both the walls and myself for support. "I am certain that I did not entrust you nor any of your age with the task of guarding my person during the Change."

"Everyone in the territory is engaged in a skirmish with human platoons, your appointed guards included. We did not expect such an audacious attack. I'm afraid to say that we were taken by surprise, but no doubt we have it under control by this time."

"Why are you not with them?" my sire queried.

"I was…somewhat late in receiving the order to defend the walls and I was on my way when I saw that the door to your chamber was open. I feared the worst, that the assault at the front walls were only to distract us from a single infiltrating assassin, and came to investigate."

"It seems your fear was misplaced, Maddrell." He said, almost as if reassuring me. "But why were you down here if the attack is outside?"

Oh dear…I was going to have to admit… "As I said, I received the order late and…in my hurry…I…felldownthestairs." I rushed the last part of the sentence in the hope he might not notice, but it seemed obvious that he did and I could feel a highly un-masculine blush rising on my cheeks…he must think me such a fool!

But my master merely gave a vague smile…just enough to show the tips of his fangs. "How embarrassing for you, but highly fortunate for me. Perhaps the offending stairway should be thanked for delivering you."

"Indeed." I agreed, undeniably glad that he sympathised and was indicating a good point to my ordeal rather than just simply, outright, laughing at me.

As we passed a window we both caught the sounds and scents of the fight filtering through the air. There was a lot of human blood and screams in the thin, warm breeze.

"We appear to be winning." I commented pleasantly.

"Victory is to be expected." Master Raziel sighed with a grunt of effort as, with my help, he hauled himself up another flight of stairs. "Humans are hardly a contest."

"They can be persistent when they want to be…when one of them has something worth living for they can last quite some time through injury and suffering."

"The same can be said of any animal. They are naught but prey; it is practically their innate duty to die for us so that we may prolong our existence."

"I don't think that they quite agree."

"You almost sound as if you are on their side."

"Never! Master, I grieve to think that you would consider me capable of such a thing."

This produced another small smile. "Calm yourself, it was merely a jest." He said, not unkindly.

We finally came upon his main, usual, chamber and he almost literally fell through the door while trying to push it open and get inside. I was forced to hold him quite tightly to stop him dropping to the stone, even though it meant crushing his wings against him to do so…I would not have had to do so, if only he was not still covered with a wet sheen of perspiration. The moment he reached the bed he shrugged me off and toppled face down onto the sheets, his unnecessary breathing laboured, heavy and slow.

"I must rest." He announced, turning his head to the side so as not to be muffled by that which he lay upon. His eyes were already closed and he was gradually opening his wings out to the cooler air of his personal room.

Outstretched and held still over his back I assumed they would straighten and strengthen.

"I will leave you." I said, bowed politely and turned to leave.

"One moment." My sire called to me to halt my exit.

"Master?" I said, turning back to him.

"I've a few tasks for you. You will need to inform those who should have been guarding me of what has occurred; that I am well and that I am not to be disturbed. Once this little brawl has been dealt with, send a runner to each clan and to Lord Kain, informing them that I will present my new gift to them at the Sanctuary if the Clans tomorrow…but do not have the specifics of my change mentioned; I do not want them discussing it behind my back before I have a chance to confront them. There will be talk but I wish to lessen it as much as possible."

For the second time in that day I experienced the same sickening sinking feeling of fear in the pit of my stomach and my heart. "Master-"

He cut me off before I could say anything more. "Maddrell, just leave. I haven't the energy for more words."

I didn't dare go against him; he was my master, my sire. Who was I to even contemplate questioning him?

And yet…

"Master, I must protest." I could not help myself, I opened my mouth with the full intention of voicing a simple 'yes sir' but instead I found all of the fear in my heart pouring out. The very second I began to speak I regretted it, but there was no way to call it back now, it was far too late to stop. In those first four traitorous opening words the damage had been done. "Do you not realise what has happened? You have acquired something that Lord Kain has not…I do not wish to seem rude but he is not the most tolerant of beings and his temper leaves something to be desired. He will be furious…jealous even…master, if you go to him I fear for both your safety and the clan's."

Raziel fixed me with a cold stare that I could not help but shrink under. "Do not speak so. And do not presume to know my sire better than I. I will agree he is not patient and is quick to anger but he would not be so childish as to even contemplate punishing me for a natural evolution that I have no control over."

After wanting so badly, at first, to be able to recall my piece I was now desperate to make my point clearer…but I knew by the glacial look on my master's face that I had already pushed my luck to its limits. I should never have presumed to question him. "My apologies." I mumbled, hoping he would not hear the fear and the anger within my voice. To me, the danger presented by the changes he had acquired were plain to see and I could not bring myself to believe that he was so naïve when he did indeed know Lord Kain far better and far longer that I!

I bowed stiffly, fighting the urge to run over and shake some sense into him; battling my own conscience…I left without another word.

With my own soul screaming at me to return to him and make him see what I did, I decided to try to ignore everything I told myself and make my way to the wall to vent my burning frustration on as many humans as I could lay my hands on. Yet even with that new desire to wreak general havoc I found that my steps were heavy and unwilling, my body suddenly reluctant to move and my head filled with clouded worry to block anything more profound than recalling what had just passed. I felt sick to my stomach. My fear coiled coldly within me and pierced my heart with shards of ice. The world around me was a blur. In the end I just could not bring myself to join in the fighting, it seemed unimportant now, insignificant. I leant against one sun warmed wall of the foremost main courtyard and pretended to watch from a distance. I say 'pretend' because, in truth, my eyes saw nothing. I stared straight through the mass of adrenaline, violence and bloodlust as if there were nothing happening at all. The thought patterns in my head commanded my full attention and nothing short of a sharp implement impaling my heart would have halted them.

Wings…why did the damn bloody fool have to go and grow wings!

Alright…so that was a little harsh. It wasn't his fault that nature had deemed him worthy of such a thing. No one had control of the Change. It was unfair of me to try and blame that on him. But it was also definitely unfair of him to not see the risk we would all now face. Lord Kain was well known for having traitors and those seen as weak thrown into the Abyss as a means of execution and was also infamous for drawing the feared Soul Reaver on any who would be so unlucky as to displease him. Though in my opinion the Lord himself should inspire more dread than any blade. Lord Kain considered himself a Dark God, and those are his own words…so what would happen, do you think, when one of his creations comes before him with an ability he does not possess and with the prospect of others acquiring it before he ever would? It is not the greatest of all sins to believe yourself to be greater than or equal to God?

Surely we were doomed.

One look at those wings and Kain would damn us all. He did not look upon treachery kindly and no doubt would see Raziel's evolution as his son's first step towards attempting to overthrow him. He would want to end the threat. He could never allow another to surpass him.

As the screams around me rose to a frenzied pitch I slowly slid down the wall to the floor, the rough stone scraping the skin of my back. I hugged my knees to my chest (which is a highly uncomfortable thing to do when wearing tight leather trousers; I don't recommend it unless you are in no mood to care) and rested my head on them. Five years into vampirism and I already I seemed to be faced with death or worse. I sighed heavily and tried to convince myself that I wouldn't have wanted to live forever anyway.

To be continued……

IMPORTANT NOTE – Chapter 2 will push this fic up to an 'M' rating when it's updated, so remember to select 'Fiction Rating: All' when looking for it. I will have update estimates on my bio page.

Author's Note – and there you have it the very first chapter. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Never fear; there will be more Raziel in chapters to come but do remember that Maddrell will be leaving this all behind so the majority of known canon characters will be flashbacks as he goes on his journeys. For now I shamelessly plead for reviews. If you have ideas or have something you might like to see happen don't hesitate to let me know and I'll see what I can do. For now I say bye bye!