Disclaimer: I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.
Authors Note: Sorry for the delay, but here's the new chapter. Enjoy!
-Chapter Four-
* * * *
'Surrounded by so many,
Yet still I am alone.
Time has washed away my face
And all that's left is stone.
So far am I from heaven,
A prisoner of this earth.
Does anyone remember me?
Does anyone know my worth?
For me, there is no future,
My time to shine has passed.
I'm not the first to feel this void,
I will not be the last.
Weep upon the sun-dried soil,
I'll soak up all your tears.
Share my never ending pain,
I cry, but no one hears...'
Nhan "No More"
* * * *
"Are you ready to go on?" Harry asked carefully.
Athan nodded. "Yeah, sure, perfectly fine." He straightened and began to pace in the small room.
A long while passed before he started to talk again.
**********************~*~**********************~*~*************************
I sneaked back to the camp the next night. Everything was peaceful, everyone asleep except the guards. The picture of perfection. No one noticed me as I walked in the shadows. Idiotic bastards, they would soon learn not to play with a creature of the night.
I found no trace of the Old Man and Kanika seemed to be gone as well.
Two of the guards were standing and talking together close by, and some words they said caught my attention.
"She tasted good," one said. "A bit small, but good."
The other nodded. "Mhmm, and the old man was good enough in his own way. I only wish that we had caught that young fellow last night. He might've been tasty."
"I don't know, a bit too pale for my tastes. We would have had to roast him first, and that takes forever."
I saw red. My blood boiled, and all I wanted to do was to kill the whole lot of them. But the Old Man had trained me good, and I managed to keep my head cool. If I'd attacked now I'd be dead before half the tribe was. This had to be done in another way. I retreated to think over it.
-------------------------
It didn't take me long to figure out what had to be done.
Soon the tribe noticed that their goats were disappearing mysteriously during the night. Bushes filled with berries were stripped bare by next morning. Some power made the river bare for fish, and other animals were chased away from their respectable territories. They began to get hungry, eying each other in a hungry way.
I didn't stop there.
I started attacking the night guards. If the hunters went far enough into the forest, to the places where the trees were thickest, I would attack them without a second thought. It didn't matter to me, I took children, old ones, and those in the prime of their youth.
The tribe started to break. Some choose to flee with their families, others became fanatical and worshipped whatever gods they believed in day and night. The Chief of the tribe didn't know what to do. He was nervous and would jump at any sound, and boy was he stressed. In the end he broke as well and went to their own Shaman.
It was night when he did that, and I followed him. This was a conversation I was not going to miss.
"-and I don't know what to do!" I heard him say. "This... this madness! What causes it! Why are the gods angry at us? We did nothing wrong!"
The Shaman, to my surprise, wasn't much older than Kanika. He was calmly sitting there, munching on some dried berries. "I saw what you did a fortnight ago," he said in the end, his voice calm. "To those three strangers. The girl, the old one and the young dark-haired man." He added when he saw that the Chief didn't understand.
"So, what have they got to do with this?!" the bear of a man exclaimed. I smirked.
"He is angry." The Shaman said.
"WHO IS?! Will you stop babbling and give me some straightforward answers!"
"The Dark God. Surely you must've heard about them? No? Too bad, because then you would have known not to touch a hair on their heads." The young boy took a drink from a flask and smirked. "Sit down and I'll explain what kind of curse you have brought unto your own tribe." And he did. He told the Chief everything our own Shaman had told me eleven years ago, and then some. Most of the things were untrue, but who am I to argue with something that terrifies my victim?
"Now do you see, Chief?" the boy was as calm as before while the Chief was shaking and mumbling. "They walk amongst us to see if we're worthy of living on this earth. I have told you time and time again that what you did - eating humans, raping, all those things - didn't please the Gods, but did you listen to me?"
"W-we'll flee from this place, the whole tribe! We'll leave the week and the young who cannot keep up to be eaten by this Dark God. And while he's occupied with them, we'll go over the mountains and to the Great River Nile. Yes, that's exac-"
The young Shaman shook his head in amusement. "You really think that would help? No, my dear Chief, that'd only prolong your and the others death. Dark Gods don't give up that easily, he will chase you to the end of the world if he has to. And do you seriously think that there's only one of them roaming this earth?"
The Chief paled even more. "What are we to do? What can save us?!"
"Nothing." The boy smiled grimly. "The time for payment has come."
That was clearly the end of the conversation. The Chief exited the hut and walked back to the camp. He didn't even notice me as I followed him the distance between us only a couple of feet. He called the tribe to the meeting-place and told them everything the Shaman had told him.
"We will go out and hunt down this creature!" he said at last. "A human, no matter if he once was a God, is always vulnerable. We will hunt him down and kill him, no matter what it takes."
I smiled a truly evil grin. They were playing straight into my hands, but for my plan to work I needed to give them some motivation. So I jumped straight into the middle of their circle. Women screamed, men shook and the Chief jumped several feet into the air. I wish you were there Harry, it'd amuse you greatly. Children just stared in awe at me.
"Let the hunt begin." I said to them and turned myself into the Element of Air, to them it looked like I disappeared into nothing.
That night every man in the camp - from ten years old and up - searched for me. They searched the forest, the stream and everywhere else they could think of. The Shaman watched them from his hut in amusement and sometimes gave pointers on where they could try to search. I began to like the kid.
However, while the hunters were out on a wild goose chase, I was back in their camp doing some work of my own. When the hunters returned they found that their women and children had come down with a mysterious illness. They were suddenly so frightfully pale and weak, and one by one they died. Huge amounts of blood-loss will do that to a person, you know.
They cursed and yelled and began to blame each other and got into fights. Humans really are violent creatures, especially in those times. They killed each other, thereby shortening my job. In the end there was the Chief and perhaps a dozen of the strongest men that had survived.
"He's playing with us," one man said looking wildly around. "I can feel him out there!"
"He's not a God, he's a demon!"
"I have dreams that he will come and make us all like him!"
"No worries," my disembodied voice froze their blood. "You'd be a disgrace to all the Gods, and wouldn't last five seconds." With those words I attacked. Three of them fell before they figured out where I was. I grinned at them and disappeared again.
The nine that were left closed in around their Chief. Their eyes trying to spot me in the dark.
"Come out of your shadows, demon!" the Chief hollered. "Fight like a man!"
"But that's just the point, I am not a man." Another two men fell. "Your Shaman was right, Chief. You should never have touched us that night." Oops, there went another man.
The humans were panicking. I was too fast for them and they knew it. Several of them got panic and started to run. I took care of them easily. Now there were only two men left along with the Chief. And all three of them were looking close to a nervous breakdown. I appeared right in front of them, deciding to end this part of the game before I went after those of the tribe who had escaped.
The two warriors threw their spears at me, but, thanking the Old Man with all my heart, I used Fire and burden them to ash before they even came close to me. Then I used Air to blow them straight into the face of the two warriors, occupying them while I went after their Chief.
The fight between myself and the other man didn't last long. He fought bravely, I'll give him that, but he was no match against my inhuman strength. Then I took care of the last two before they could get the ash out of their eyes.
I stood up and picked up a spear. It was time to move on.
"Very good, Dark God," the fact that the young Shaman had sneaked up behind me didn't surprise me the least. "You did a fine job with driving them all to madness. And now what are you going to do?" he came forward but stopped when I pointed the spear at his heart.
"Stay away boy, I'm in a killing mood, and I've always wondered what it would be like to kill a Shaman." I growled.
He raised an eyebrow and put his hand at the spear, pushing it away. "I'm not here to kill you or to preach for you, but to help you," he said.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yes, I have a deal to suggest to you." I raised an eyebrow. "They didn't kill her - Kanika, was it? They sent her off with one of the families that ran away."
I stared at him. "And I'm supposed to believe that?"
"Drink my blood, you know blood doesn't lie." He offered his wrist to me.
"You are showing me great trust by doing this, young one. How do you know that I won't drink you dry and leave you here to die?"
"I can see it in your eyes, you are not that sort of person. I know where they sent here, and all I want in return is for you to take me over the mountains and to the Great River Nile, to my original homeland." The boy still had his hand out.
I thought over it. I didn't know the way over these mountains, wherever they might be; and the boy only wanted me to take him to this river he was talking about. However, he could be leading me into a trap, but he was offering me his blood. Gods, I hate it when humans become difficult.
Grabbing his arm I bit his wrist. He bit back a cry but didn't pull back. His blood was powerful, golden, pure as a new-born baby's. He wasn't lying.
"Alright," I said as I released him. I put my hand over the bite marks and made them heal themselves. "I'll take you with me, but if you slow me down..." I didn't need to say anything else, he understood.
"I won't slow you, but perhaps I can have your name?"
Names, especially to vampires under fifty, are powerful things. It can bind them to a person and this person then has full control over the vampire. They can order us to do anything, almost like the Imperius Cruse.
"I will give you mine if you give me yours." I replied.
"I am Aestus." He replied earnestly.
"Indeed, then you can call me Ereptor."
"Why do I have a feeling that that is not your real name?" he Aestus asked as he picked up the things he had packed. Smart boy, he knew I would take him with me as soon as he mentioned Kanika to me.
"To each his own, youngling. Now, which way are we going?"
He pointed towards north-east and we set off.
-------------------------
Well, that's is mates. What do you think?
Thanks to:
brion, Rachel A. Prongs, Lexi, BloodIce, Naia, Makina Kitsune, JerseyGirl03, WeasleTwinsLover1112, Dragonhope, CR, Arianne, Anneliese1, Isis Rahjanah, chaser1, SSSRoaB and idril coamenel.
Authors Note: Sorry for the delay, but here's the new chapter. Enjoy!
-Chapter Four-
* * * *
'Surrounded by so many,
Yet still I am alone.
Time has washed away my face
And all that's left is stone.
So far am I from heaven,
A prisoner of this earth.
Does anyone remember me?
Does anyone know my worth?
For me, there is no future,
My time to shine has passed.
I'm not the first to feel this void,
I will not be the last.
Weep upon the sun-dried soil,
I'll soak up all your tears.
Share my never ending pain,
I cry, but no one hears...'
Nhan "No More"
* * * *
"Are you ready to go on?" Harry asked carefully.
Athan nodded. "Yeah, sure, perfectly fine." He straightened and began to pace in the small room.
A long while passed before he started to talk again.
**********************~*~**********************~*~*************************
I sneaked back to the camp the next night. Everything was peaceful, everyone asleep except the guards. The picture of perfection. No one noticed me as I walked in the shadows. Idiotic bastards, they would soon learn not to play with a creature of the night.
I found no trace of the Old Man and Kanika seemed to be gone as well.
Two of the guards were standing and talking together close by, and some words they said caught my attention.
"She tasted good," one said. "A bit small, but good."
The other nodded. "Mhmm, and the old man was good enough in his own way. I only wish that we had caught that young fellow last night. He might've been tasty."
"I don't know, a bit too pale for my tastes. We would have had to roast him first, and that takes forever."
I saw red. My blood boiled, and all I wanted to do was to kill the whole lot of them. But the Old Man had trained me good, and I managed to keep my head cool. If I'd attacked now I'd be dead before half the tribe was. This had to be done in another way. I retreated to think over it.
-------------------------
It didn't take me long to figure out what had to be done.
Soon the tribe noticed that their goats were disappearing mysteriously during the night. Bushes filled with berries were stripped bare by next morning. Some power made the river bare for fish, and other animals were chased away from their respectable territories. They began to get hungry, eying each other in a hungry way.
I didn't stop there.
I started attacking the night guards. If the hunters went far enough into the forest, to the places where the trees were thickest, I would attack them without a second thought. It didn't matter to me, I took children, old ones, and those in the prime of their youth.
The tribe started to break. Some choose to flee with their families, others became fanatical and worshipped whatever gods they believed in day and night. The Chief of the tribe didn't know what to do. He was nervous and would jump at any sound, and boy was he stressed. In the end he broke as well and went to their own Shaman.
It was night when he did that, and I followed him. This was a conversation I was not going to miss.
"-and I don't know what to do!" I heard him say. "This... this madness! What causes it! Why are the gods angry at us? We did nothing wrong!"
The Shaman, to my surprise, wasn't much older than Kanika. He was calmly sitting there, munching on some dried berries. "I saw what you did a fortnight ago," he said in the end, his voice calm. "To those three strangers. The girl, the old one and the young dark-haired man." He added when he saw that the Chief didn't understand.
"So, what have they got to do with this?!" the bear of a man exclaimed. I smirked.
"He is angry." The Shaman said.
"WHO IS?! Will you stop babbling and give me some straightforward answers!"
"The Dark God. Surely you must've heard about them? No? Too bad, because then you would have known not to touch a hair on their heads." The young boy took a drink from a flask and smirked. "Sit down and I'll explain what kind of curse you have brought unto your own tribe." And he did. He told the Chief everything our own Shaman had told me eleven years ago, and then some. Most of the things were untrue, but who am I to argue with something that terrifies my victim?
"Now do you see, Chief?" the boy was as calm as before while the Chief was shaking and mumbling. "They walk amongst us to see if we're worthy of living on this earth. I have told you time and time again that what you did - eating humans, raping, all those things - didn't please the Gods, but did you listen to me?"
"W-we'll flee from this place, the whole tribe! We'll leave the week and the young who cannot keep up to be eaten by this Dark God. And while he's occupied with them, we'll go over the mountains and to the Great River Nile. Yes, that's exac-"
The young Shaman shook his head in amusement. "You really think that would help? No, my dear Chief, that'd only prolong your and the others death. Dark Gods don't give up that easily, he will chase you to the end of the world if he has to. And do you seriously think that there's only one of them roaming this earth?"
The Chief paled even more. "What are we to do? What can save us?!"
"Nothing." The boy smiled grimly. "The time for payment has come."
That was clearly the end of the conversation. The Chief exited the hut and walked back to the camp. He didn't even notice me as I followed him the distance between us only a couple of feet. He called the tribe to the meeting-place and told them everything the Shaman had told him.
"We will go out and hunt down this creature!" he said at last. "A human, no matter if he once was a God, is always vulnerable. We will hunt him down and kill him, no matter what it takes."
I smiled a truly evil grin. They were playing straight into my hands, but for my plan to work I needed to give them some motivation. So I jumped straight into the middle of their circle. Women screamed, men shook and the Chief jumped several feet into the air. I wish you were there Harry, it'd amuse you greatly. Children just stared in awe at me.
"Let the hunt begin." I said to them and turned myself into the Element of Air, to them it looked like I disappeared into nothing.
That night every man in the camp - from ten years old and up - searched for me. They searched the forest, the stream and everywhere else they could think of. The Shaman watched them from his hut in amusement and sometimes gave pointers on where they could try to search. I began to like the kid.
However, while the hunters were out on a wild goose chase, I was back in their camp doing some work of my own. When the hunters returned they found that their women and children had come down with a mysterious illness. They were suddenly so frightfully pale and weak, and one by one they died. Huge amounts of blood-loss will do that to a person, you know.
They cursed and yelled and began to blame each other and got into fights. Humans really are violent creatures, especially in those times. They killed each other, thereby shortening my job. In the end there was the Chief and perhaps a dozen of the strongest men that had survived.
"He's playing with us," one man said looking wildly around. "I can feel him out there!"
"He's not a God, he's a demon!"
"I have dreams that he will come and make us all like him!"
"No worries," my disembodied voice froze their blood. "You'd be a disgrace to all the Gods, and wouldn't last five seconds." With those words I attacked. Three of them fell before they figured out where I was. I grinned at them and disappeared again.
The nine that were left closed in around their Chief. Their eyes trying to spot me in the dark.
"Come out of your shadows, demon!" the Chief hollered. "Fight like a man!"
"But that's just the point, I am not a man." Another two men fell. "Your Shaman was right, Chief. You should never have touched us that night." Oops, there went another man.
The humans were panicking. I was too fast for them and they knew it. Several of them got panic and started to run. I took care of them easily. Now there were only two men left along with the Chief. And all three of them were looking close to a nervous breakdown. I appeared right in front of them, deciding to end this part of the game before I went after those of the tribe who had escaped.
The two warriors threw their spears at me, but, thanking the Old Man with all my heart, I used Fire and burden them to ash before they even came close to me. Then I used Air to blow them straight into the face of the two warriors, occupying them while I went after their Chief.
The fight between myself and the other man didn't last long. He fought bravely, I'll give him that, but he was no match against my inhuman strength. Then I took care of the last two before they could get the ash out of their eyes.
I stood up and picked up a spear. It was time to move on.
"Very good, Dark God," the fact that the young Shaman had sneaked up behind me didn't surprise me the least. "You did a fine job with driving them all to madness. And now what are you going to do?" he came forward but stopped when I pointed the spear at his heart.
"Stay away boy, I'm in a killing mood, and I've always wondered what it would be like to kill a Shaman." I growled.
He raised an eyebrow and put his hand at the spear, pushing it away. "I'm not here to kill you or to preach for you, but to help you," he said.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yes, I have a deal to suggest to you." I raised an eyebrow. "They didn't kill her - Kanika, was it? They sent her off with one of the families that ran away."
I stared at him. "And I'm supposed to believe that?"
"Drink my blood, you know blood doesn't lie." He offered his wrist to me.
"You are showing me great trust by doing this, young one. How do you know that I won't drink you dry and leave you here to die?"
"I can see it in your eyes, you are not that sort of person. I know where they sent here, and all I want in return is for you to take me over the mountains and to the Great River Nile, to my original homeland." The boy still had his hand out.
I thought over it. I didn't know the way over these mountains, wherever they might be; and the boy only wanted me to take him to this river he was talking about. However, he could be leading me into a trap, but he was offering me his blood. Gods, I hate it when humans become difficult.
Grabbing his arm I bit his wrist. He bit back a cry but didn't pull back. His blood was powerful, golden, pure as a new-born baby's. He wasn't lying.
"Alright," I said as I released him. I put my hand over the bite marks and made them heal themselves. "I'll take you with me, but if you slow me down..." I didn't need to say anything else, he understood.
"I won't slow you, but perhaps I can have your name?"
Names, especially to vampires under fifty, are powerful things. It can bind them to a person and this person then has full control over the vampire. They can order us to do anything, almost like the Imperius Cruse.
"I will give you mine if you give me yours." I replied.
"I am Aestus." He replied earnestly.
"Indeed, then you can call me Ereptor."
"Why do I have a feeling that that is not your real name?" he Aestus asked as he picked up the things he had packed. Smart boy, he knew I would take him with me as soon as he mentioned Kanika to me.
"To each his own, youngling. Now, which way are we going?"
He pointed towards north-east and we set off.
-------------------------
Well, that's is mates. What do you think?
Thanks to:
brion, Rachel A. Prongs, Lexi, BloodIce, Naia, Makina Kitsune, JerseyGirl03, WeasleTwinsLover1112, Dragonhope, CR, Arianne, Anneliese1, Isis Rahjanah, chaser1, SSSRoaB and idril coamenel.