Reviews! YAY! I've currently been reviewed by two people, Tiger5913 and ?. To both of you: Thanks. I'm continuing this faq since I've recieved SIX reviews! So, I'm putting down Chapter 5 right here. And one thing, to anyone who wants to tell me- how do I know how many hits my story has received? Anyone know? Please help the newbie :).
So, with that question out of the way, we strive valiantly forth into my story! The chapter's a little long, but you'll enjoy it.
Chapter 5
Sins of the Past
Dimitri whipped his head back and forth, futiley trying to see where the speaker was hiding.
" Show yourself!" He demanded angrily, though his mask of calm stayed in place.
" Jon, what's happening?" Felicia said, nervously backing towards a wall. Her claws were unsheathed, and her ears were laid flat against her skull.
" I think Pyron just made one hell of a grand entrance," he muttered, his teeth bared. A snarl escaped his lips.
" Indeed I did, wolf," Pyron said, his voice smooth as silk- with an edge of iron. " But it is not you I am interested in."
Felicia, meanwhile, had backed up to a wall, and was looking about. Suddenly a skull-like face appeared on the wall and a bony hand grabbed her arm. She screamed and tore at it with her other hand, and managed to get away. The skull-face laughed at her, as a new arm grew from the wall. Other faces appeared on the wall, some laughing, some crying, all hideous in the extreme. Their arms soon followed. As the faces covered the wall, a burning ring appeared in one, and out stepped a thing of Hell.
It stood at over 6 foot, and the burning antlers upon its head scraped the ceiling. Fire covered its being, with tortured faces of pain sometimes appearing amidst the brimstone, to scream and vanish. The sound of a crying child intensified in the room as the creature flexed a hand. A single burning sword replaced it's claw, and shrunk back into a hand a second later.
(So this is Pyron) Dimitri thought. His heart trembled, and the mask that was his face trembled as well. (What unholy place does he come from?)
" No, werewolves don't interest me at all. Rather, I'm interested in vampires, particularly this one." Pyron turned his white, pupilless eyes to Dimitri, and out of Dimitri's mind a strange thought coalesced, before his body went numb under their gaze:
(He has the eyes of the damned.)
" You who defeated my kind so long ago, in the War of Sundering," Pyron said. " You who sacrificed so much to win. The race I hate above all others. The race I have personally damned."
Dimitri's paralysis broke. " So your the bastard who attacked my home," he snarled, rage twisting his features.
" Exactly. But, in truth, all I did was give the humans a hand. They were planning an attack anyway."
" But we would have rebuffed it, if you hadn't given them those weapons!" Dimitri roared.
" Maybe. Probably not. What attacked your castle wasn't even a third of my forces. The army heading for Castle Aensland is considerably larger." The apparition seemed to grin. " The humans are trying to get revenge for thousands of years of pain and torment. None of you can stop them."
Felicia gasped. " Castle Aensland?... You're going to attack the royal family?!?"
Pyron nodded at her. " Exactly."
John, behind Pyron, began nodding towards the photo of his grandfather that hung on the wall. Dimitri watched him. John was acting out a scene: reaching in something...
Taking a leap of faith, Dimitri turned and thrust his hand into the painting. The surface rippled, like water, and Dimitri suddenly felt himself falling... into memories...
*Blood on the ground*
Dimitri looked around. He saw a human village under attack, the walls on fire and the people fleeing in panic. Dimly he recognised it as the town he had raided 100 years ago, when he had first taken over, a town where his father's killer supposedly had stayed.
*Blood in the air*
(Why am I being shown this?)
*Blood on your hands*
Dimitri tried to look for the voice, but all he could see was a group of vampires, riding into the village astride their warhorses, cutting a swath through the meager humans trying to defend the village. And in the front, stabbing through them heartlessly, was a vampire Dimitri recognized.
Himself.
Dimitri watched, as the younger version of himself stabbed forth with a vengeance. Dimitri had forgotten all this... and other memories leapt at him. How good he had felt when another human died by his hand, how excited he had been, how a monstrous joy seized his heart.
" No..." he whispered. He'd forgotten this night. He'd forced himself to forget how good the killing had felt, how nice it was to let the monster in him out to slaughter, to revel in the gore...
*Innocence stolen*
Dimitri watched helplessly as he saw himself go after a young woman holding her daughter. A human soldier charged his younger self. The vampire lashed out. The man fell dead, heart pierced.
" Dadddddyyyyy!" the girl cried, struggling out of her mother's arms and running towards her fallen father. He saw his own face smile, the smile of a monster, as the eyes gauged the distance to the girl. His arm raised.
" No...." Dimitri cried in his mind. He knew what came next. Oh God, to reverse what happened then...
*Can you do that?*
" What?" Dimitri said, struggling to shut his eyes from the scene in his mind.
*Can you kill this part of you? The part that enjoyed killing, the part that stabbed that girl to death, the part which spreads blackness on your entire life?*
Dimitri felt himself tugged in two ways. One towards the monster in front of him, and another back- to a place of light...
And he knew where he wanted to be. He pushed away from the monster, from the darkness... And entered a strange place, a peaceful one. The vision in his mind's eye disappeared, replaced by soothing darkness.
*Remember this, Dimitri. A man who has always been good is great indeed. But a man who decides to fight for good, when evil has tainted his soul, is the greatest man of all. Redemption is the fire that burns all sins, the rain that cleanses.*
And Dimitri was suddenly back in the room with Pyron, his hand still in the painting. Only a few seconds had passed. John was rushing Pyron to distract him, and Felicia was jumping from the other side. Pyron was still staring at Dimitri, wondering what he was doing. Dimitri pushed his arm forward.
And on the other side his hand struck the shaft of a spear.
So, with that question out of the way, we strive valiantly forth into my story! The chapter's a little long, but you'll enjoy it.
Chapter 5
Sins of the Past
Dimitri whipped his head back and forth, futiley trying to see where the speaker was hiding.
" Show yourself!" He demanded angrily, though his mask of calm stayed in place.
" Jon, what's happening?" Felicia said, nervously backing towards a wall. Her claws were unsheathed, and her ears were laid flat against her skull.
" I think Pyron just made one hell of a grand entrance," he muttered, his teeth bared. A snarl escaped his lips.
" Indeed I did, wolf," Pyron said, his voice smooth as silk- with an edge of iron. " But it is not you I am interested in."
Felicia, meanwhile, had backed up to a wall, and was looking about. Suddenly a skull-like face appeared on the wall and a bony hand grabbed her arm. She screamed and tore at it with her other hand, and managed to get away. The skull-face laughed at her, as a new arm grew from the wall. Other faces appeared on the wall, some laughing, some crying, all hideous in the extreme. Their arms soon followed. As the faces covered the wall, a burning ring appeared in one, and out stepped a thing of Hell.
It stood at over 6 foot, and the burning antlers upon its head scraped the ceiling. Fire covered its being, with tortured faces of pain sometimes appearing amidst the brimstone, to scream and vanish. The sound of a crying child intensified in the room as the creature flexed a hand. A single burning sword replaced it's claw, and shrunk back into a hand a second later.
(So this is Pyron) Dimitri thought. His heart trembled, and the mask that was his face trembled as well. (What unholy place does he come from?)
" No, werewolves don't interest me at all. Rather, I'm interested in vampires, particularly this one." Pyron turned his white, pupilless eyes to Dimitri, and out of Dimitri's mind a strange thought coalesced, before his body went numb under their gaze:
(He has the eyes of the damned.)
" You who defeated my kind so long ago, in the War of Sundering," Pyron said. " You who sacrificed so much to win. The race I hate above all others. The race I have personally damned."
Dimitri's paralysis broke. " So your the bastard who attacked my home," he snarled, rage twisting his features.
" Exactly. But, in truth, all I did was give the humans a hand. They were planning an attack anyway."
" But we would have rebuffed it, if you hadn't given them those weapons!" Dimitri roared.
" Maybe. Probably not. What attacked your castle wasn't even a third of my forces. The army heading for Castle Aensland is considerably larger." The apparition seemed to grin. " The humans are trying to get revenge for thousands of years of pain and torment. None of you can stop them."
Felicia gasped. " Castle Aensland?... You're going to attack the royal family?!?"
Pyron nodded at her. " Exactly."
John, behind Pyron, began nodding towards the photo of his grandfather that hung on the wall. Dimitri watched him. John was acting out a scene: reaching in something...
Taking a leap of faith, Dimitri turned and thrust his hand into the painting. The surface rippled, like water, and Dimitri suddenly felt himself falling... into memories...
*Blood on the ground*
Dimitri looked around. He saw a human village under attack, the walls on fire and the people fleeing in panic. Dimly he recognised it as the town he had raided 100 years ago, when he had first taken over, a town where his father's killer supposedly had stayed.
*Blood in the air*
(Why am I being shown this?)
*Blood on your hands*
Dimitri tried to look for the voice, but all he could see was a group of vampires, riding into the village astride their warhorses, cutting a swath through the meager humans trying to defend the village. And in the front, stabbing through them heartlessly, was a vampire Dimitri recognized.
Himself.
Dimitri watched, as the younger version of himself stabbed forth with a vengeance. Dimitri had forgotten all this... and other memories leapt at him. How good he had felt when another human died by his hand, how excited he had been, how a monstrous joy seized his heart.
" No..." he whispered. He'd forgotten this night. He'd forced himself to forget how good the killing had felt, how nice it was to let the monster in him out to slaughter, to revel in the gore...
*Innocence stolen*
Dimitri watched helplessly as he saw himself go after a young woman holding her daughter. A human soldier charged his younger self. The vampire lashed out. The man fell dead, heart pierced.
" Dadddddyyyyy!" the girl cried, struggling out of her mother's arms and running towards her fallen father. He saw his own face smile, the smile of a monster, as the eyes gauged the distance to the girl. His arm raised.
" No...." Dimitri cried in his mind. He knew what came next. Oh God, to reverse what happened then...
*Can you do that?*
" What?" Dimitri said, struggling to shut his eyes from the scene in his mind.
*Can you kill this part of you? The part that enjoyed killing, the part that stabbed that girl to death, the part which spreads blackness on your entire life?*
Dimitri felt himself tugged in two ways. One towards the monster in front of him, and another back- to a place of light...
And he knew where he wanted to be. He pushed away from the monster, from the darkness... And entered a strange place, a peaceful one. The vision in his mind's eye disappeared, replaced by soothing darkness.
*Remember this, Dimitri. A man who has always been good is great indeed. But a man who decides to fight for good, when evil has tainted his soul, is the greatest man of all. Redemption is the fire that burns all sins, the rain that cleanses.*
And Dimitri was suddenly back in the room with Pyron, his hand still in the painting. Only a few seconds had passed. John was rushing Pyron to distract him, and Felicia was jumping from the other side. Pyron was still staring at Dimitri, wondering what he was doing. Dimitri pushed his arm forward.
And on the other side his hand struck the shaft of a spear.