Chapter One
To Walk with Death

"Do you not feel that you do not fit in, an outcast, like you do not belong." We were walking now, down another road of the town and I was following without question. His words I listened to because they felt right. They fitted who I was. I was an outcast and I certainly did not belong, not to these people anyway.
"They shun you…" He stopped and knelt next to me. "Because they fear you."

If any other child had heard these words they would probably have protested within a child-like way. 'But why do they fear me, what have I done to them?' And yet inside me I felt this over whelming desire that I wanted them to, I wanted them to fear me and from hearing Mortanius' words explain this I found an odd sort of pleasure developing itself inside of me from such thoughts, but I didn't tell him this.

"Like they shun Vampires?" And with this question I saw him frown.
"That child, is another matter altogether." The sentence was added with an utmost sigh. I understood straight away that it was a subject he wanted to stay away from. For now I decided that I would respect his wishes but I made sure to note the topic mentally in my head for future talks.

"And my father?" I adverted my gaze to the sky. "My father hates me because he fears me?"
The question was avoided simultaneously as the other one had. Replied gently with, "You had your mothers love, you still have it now."
My gaze was back upon him. "My mother is a silly creature who sees good in everything and so loves everything… my father included." To that he had no reply, only that of silence, which in a way answers everything.

"You said I was a Guardian?" A question I expected to hopefully ease the atmosphere that had surrounded us.
"Yes, the Guardian of Dimension." For a moment, and like any child would, I thought this over. There seemed to be an acceptance to which my mind just acknowledged what he said. Again it… felt right.

A Guardian. I had heard of such people. They were highly known throughout our land, and highly respected. Now, he was claming that I was one. It was irony in the simplest forms, the thought that I, Azimuth was one of them…

Forgotten child who cries tears of glass… The town whispered of such a child, the town shunned such a child and the father despised such a child. And now Mortanius was giving that same child such a title of grandeur. So grand that as of yet she felt the power but did not fully understand it.

I had heard of them, those known distantly to the common folk as 'The Protectors of Hope'. Nine, or there had been, except that before I saw the opening of life, six of them were killed at the hands of the ancient Vampire known as Vorador. At that age that is all I knew of them, that and the understanding that they had the element of power. To this I felt that flame flicker inside of me once more.

"Guardians, they have… magic?" I wrinkled my nose at such a prospect. "Does that mean I have magic as well?"
He chuckled once more at my childlike ways and observed my overall reaction to the words he had spoke, the way I accepted it just like that, as if it had been the answer to everything.

"Yes, you do. It is why I am here. You have powers but you may not be aware of them or have yet to control them."
"I see Demons." My response was shot back at him coldly. The words were spoken quickly and in a rushed manner. But it was good to let them out, how many times had I kept that inside of me? I was admitting what the others thought of me; in everything you see of me I truly am the Demons Child.

Mortanius did not reply, just nodded as if to say, 'yes child, I understand'. Perhaps he did, I am not certain, although something inside of me was already beginning to protest. A whisper, 'No Azimuth, he doesn't understand, how could he possibly? None of them understand you Azimuth, no one but us. We understand each other, our child…' For now I ignored it, that voice, those voices, they contained nothing more but hate and malice. At this point I did not need to draw upon such emotions, and for now I did not want to let those elements show.

I saw other things too, but as of yet I desired not to speak of them. And all this… as a child I had never looked to it as being 'power', no only it to be the overactive mind of a frightened and lonely child. Invisible 'friends' which I could talk to if I so needed it, those that brought comfort with their voices in times when I faced nothing but remoteness. Back then I hushed it as an overactive imagination… I never understood the full potential of my power and strength.

A frown, contemplation on whether I could trust Mortanius to tell him more. He had proved to be my rescue but it did not mean to say that I had to trust him fully.

"If you do not trust me then why are you so eager to follow?" he said as if he had read my mind. And now he had stood up and was once more looking down upon me.
"You provide me with a way out. I am willing to take it if it gets me away from him."
"Your choice." Mortanius nodded. "But you won't get far if you don't start to put trust in anyone."
Oh I had a reply for that, the fact that so far in life trust had got me nowhere. Born to a father who could hardly stand to look at me, and a town that whispered… What trust had I to put in them if they had none to put in me?

I must admit though that I had trust, and I did put my trust somewhere. But to only those that served me well, and I them. Nevertheless, so far Mortanius had proved to be of service, his words had been kind. So for now I decided that I would in mute silence agree with him even though deep inside that flame was beginning to ignite itself once more. Perhaps it never went out. That flame, merely a flicker, and yet it waited for something stronger to ignite it.

Our path was woven again as our journey resumed to the walk. I followed and yet I had no idea where it was we were going, in all honesty I did not care. For all I knew he could have been leading me to the depths of the underworld and yet I would follow without question. Was I really that determined to leave here, to leave the man who was father only by title?

Where were we going? It did not matter, nothing ever did. All that I considered was what happened now, for tomorrow was but another day. I remember in times when shut in my room I would always hope for tomorrow, praying to myself that in some aspects it would be different. 'A man clamed by a Vampire, left are his wife and child,' to such thoughts my heart rejoiced.

Footfalls laden upon the cobbled street, it was a reminder to me that we were still progressing forwards. For a moment I listened to them, those footfalls, and then frowned when I could only hear mine. I mused upon this, they whisper of Death being silent and how so right they are. For as Mortanius walked a sound was hardly heard. His pace was as silent as it was ongoing and unfaltering. A couple of times I had to quicken my pace or suddenly run a couple of steps so that I could keep up with him.

Ah yes the only sound heard was that of my feet upon the cobbles and the slight calling of the zephyr which was a gentle caress that lovingly touched strands of my hair and ruffled Mortanius' cloak. It was a presence within itself but one to which I never turned to.

The more we progressed the more the houses began to diminish until it was the edge of the town appeared. Beyond those houses was nothing but vast wilderness and lands to which these eyes had never beheld before. I was eager, I was eager to see it all and I wondered to whether Mortanius would allow me to. Perhaps he was only here to lead me in one direction before leaving me entirely.

Would he do that, leave me to find my own ways upon the paths that entwine our lives? He had taken me from my home, but then I had found him on my own accord. He had not forced me to follow him… yet surely he would take some responsibility, after all was I not apart of his own? He was a Guardian, as was I.

And all these thoughts that passed through my mind, they appeared at their own accord. I thought them over out of curiosity although the over all element of what would happen after we left the town did not really bother me. If Mortanius did not claim responsibility for this child it did not matter. No one else had ever done so why should he? Thoughts that rested upon my mind, in all accounts with this new identity I was curious to see what would happen to me.

I tilted my head back to regard the night and the whitish disk of the moon. To an extent such a sight mesmerized me, but to this in such a movement and gesture my steps faltered and I fell, falling upon the street after not watching my own step.

Pain clamed its hold on my body, that throbbing feeling that heaves itself up through your insides and makes your lungs suddenly gasp for air. It was that kind of fall and that kind of pain that followed.

The coldness of the floor below, hard and damp and as my skin touched the surface I used the example of the stone to that of the elements of peoples own feelings. The coldness they had given me was like the element of this stone, whilst the pain from the fall was the result of their frozen attitudes towards me. It was the symbolic pain that when I was young I had inside of me due to whispers, but I was young and just a child. As I aged I welcomed the coldness and I want to feel it… always.

The taste of copper entered my mouth. I pushed myself up and then upon my knees my hand numbly felt for the crimson element that my tongue had tasted. My lip bled having accidentally bitten into it with the descent of my fall. The result was slight pain and crimson flow. And I embraced it all…

I wanted to feel the pain. If I felt pain then it showed I existed. It meant that I was real, that I was living, and was not just some flicker of imagination that my mother had created in lonely hours. It meant that I was alive.

"Azimuth…" I heard those vocals call upon me once more and looked up. Mortanius had seen me trip and so stopped his own walk, in fact he had not just halted but he was now starting to approach me. I on the other hand took little notice; instead I was looking at my hand, too caught up in the deep crimson sight that smeared itself upon my skin like a red stain. Blood, blood from my bitten lip, not much but how pretty it looked in the moonlight, how beautiful and deadly it looked upon the skin.

I looked up, upholding my hand in an unsure and slightly helpless manner, gazing at him and wondering at the same time what he thought. Did he want me to cry, did he wonder why I did not? Such a child, such a fall and yet I sat on the harsh stone floor a trickle of blood upon the corner of my mouth, gazing up at him like some Demon myself.

"…Blood…" A mutter, words spoken as if I had never seen such substance before. A display that almost suggested that I had made some sort of discovery.

I bled… I bled like any other mortal would. I felt pain like any other would. So was I so different from them after all? Blood, yes I had cut myself before, like all children do in a fall or accident due to others. But after the sudden title that was bestowed me I really did start to doubt myself whether to the fact that I had ever been a Mortal child or instead just found by a woman who claimed to be my mother.

Without a word Mortanius took my hand and wiped it clean of what blood there was with the hem of his cloak. My own fall was but a reminder that whatever anyone else said or thought I was still human, I was still mortal. I was not sure whether I was relived at the prospect or more disappointed. After all, did I really want to be Mortal; did I really want to be like them?

"I bleed?"
"What did you expect?" he replied, satisfying himself that all remains of the blood was now gone from my hand. It was like he thought that if the blood remained then I would attract the attention of those that thirsted for it.

"Guardian's we are, but we also feel pain, wounds may be inflicted upon us and we may die." The last words were morose themselves, as if even the symbolic appearance of Death did not desire death… Or maybe more so it was a passing memory of my predecessors, the fact that even us, we who are chosen and so gifted may see an end.

Vorador's victorious moment and the display of his wounded annihilation over six of us were but a reminder of how our own lives could be easily swept. And with the taste of my own coppery life flow I gritted my teeth. I would grow powerful and no one would sweep me aside, and I will never allow anyone to do so again… no one…

With a swift and yet dull movement of ache I was back upon my feet once more, although my insides still throbbed and my lip felt swollen and bitter. Nonetheless we were set to continue walking. The town was dispersing and up ahead was the outpost for the night watch and beyond, unfolding in a nightly picturesque vista, was a crisp landscape set against the backdrop of a big, open nightly sky of hazy blue and many stars.

My very essence was already soaring and clasping to such an image, already plucking at the dark swift blossom of night clouds that hung limply in the sky. If anyone were to stop me from progressing any further, to turn me back, to deny myself from touching and feeling such elements as that beautiful land then I would scream and my scream would consume all.

I feared that being so close I would be denied leave of this miserable place and not allowed to grace the land of others. Eagerness quelled, eagerness and slight fear as we approached the night watch. What if they alone were allowed to keep me here? The image was too clear in my mind, them telling Mortanius that such a child as I was not allowed to leave this town. I narrowed my eyes, yes, I could see such a nightmare unfolding, getting ready to take a hold of me, pluck me from my freedom and throw me back into the nightmare.

It was all a ridicules illusion of course, for they had no hold over me. It was an illusion, a fantasy created by my worried mind and yet eager heart. So close was I that
I expected nothing but to find myself dragged back. And I knew if I were to be dragged back to where I had come from then all would consume me and I would die.

Yet something swiftly reminded me that if they dare attempt such a thing then something would happen, although I was not sure what. To this the voices teased me, whispering 'just be patient child if anything happens then you shall see.' And to these words my insides glowed with an overwhelming feeling. I felt protected from all, and with Mortanius here, I put my faith in him that now he knew I wanted to be what he said I was, then he would make sure I left with him or die here. I dared not to think what would happen if anyone argued with him, though in truth I already knew.

My eyes fell upon some men in dented armour near a makeshift substitute that was used for an outpost. These men were the 'leftovers' of the night watch. A trifle group of men who littered the boarders of our town swearing to protect us from Vampires. They had no real skill, just men who were inspired by the whole sense of 'witch hunting'. Occasionally they would rally with others, moved and motivated by the words of the snake himself. They were overall excited by his words and prospect and so fortified themselves. Of course there were those who were trained to hunt, and these goaded the other men of the town to help out; after all it was there town and their land so it was their responsibility to help keep safe those within.

Those that stood on guard at this outpost were now looking upon the Necromancer who wiped the remaining small tears of blood from a child's face before resting a hand upon her shoulder to guide her forwards.

With every intense breath within me, the nervousness of myself, we approached. No reaction was stirred apart from some who nodded formerly in Mortanius direction, they of course knew of him. Like I had said, who did not?

When they looked upon me I felt my head and gaze avert itself to the ground. Back then it was a natural reaction, one I had done in hope of not drawing attention or trouble to myself. Their eyes upon me and I could feel their questions, questions that ran through their minds. Who was I exactly?

To this I felt another gaze pierce through, a gaze I recognized distantly. I looked up now, interested to see whom it was who was taking notice of me, and I felt my eyes shine with the sudden feeling that graced my soul.

There that one, one whose mind was intense with questions. He knew of me and already my insides were chilled. If anyone could stop me from going any further it would be him, an acquaintance of my fathers, someone he spent time in the tavern with.

But I was determined; and at the same time I was worried that he would question where I was going. 'Look at him…' and I did so. I returned his gaze with one of my own, and upon my lips I suddenly realized that they were hinted with the hue of a sinister smile. That flame inside of me alight and burning, something inside of me spurring me to become something more then what I was and not to shy away.

I now wanted him to tell my father that he had seen me leave. My mind revelled on such thoughts of the anger that my father might feel when his acquaintance told him so, the fact that I would be far from his clasp. Through voices in my mind I dared this acquaintance of my father's to respond.

'Tell him, tell him that you saw his daughter the night she went missing… You saw his daughter leave his grasps forever as she walked the roads with Death…'