Author's Note: Now begins the rest of the journey, where I make up the story myself. I know these updates are kind of short, but given the amount of material I have, and the fact that I'm not finished writing it, I want to stretch it a bit. Also, this one may be shorter, because it contains a big plot point, and the next section is one of my favorites, so I'm saving it for the next update.


The World of Darkness

The enjoyable sensation I had felt when I left the party lasted for about two weeks, in which time it slowly diminished from a blazing inferno to hardly the flicker of a candle. I began to feel discouraged and alone, and I felt that perhaps I had made a mistake going out on my own, but there was no turning back. I didn't remember which direction I had come from, and the party would be long gone by now. I hadn't known where we were going, I was just following along. One thing about being by myself was that I had plenty of time to improve my abilities, which were becoming quite impressive as of late. After a great deal of practice, I learned how to turn myself into a lifeless statue during the day so that the sun would not cause me harm, but I sometimes wondered if there was much of a poing to it here since it would be quite odd to find a gargoyle in the middle of a forest. I began to get into the habit of digging myself a hole and covering up with dirt so I wouldn't be seen by any travelers that happened by. I was already taking a grave risk being in forests, or even out in the wilderness, by myself. Damien had warned me of the other creatures who stalked the night, even though he hadn't needed to: I had, after all, seen one myself. The image still lingered in my head, but I pressed on. Other than for the purpose of sleeping or feeding upon animals I found, I kept myself aloft, not just for the purpose of staying safe, but because it was a much faster way to travel. I found that I could cover a thousand miles in a night if I flew the whole way. I didn't really keep going in the same direction all the time because I didn't really know where I needed to go anyhow, but I did make sure I wasn't flying in circles.

Werewolves was what Damien had called these other creatures. He said that he himself had never run across one, but even as powerful as he had become, he feared them. He had told me that just one could easily make quick work of 4 or 5 vampires if they didn't know what they were doing, and I believed him. Apparently they hated vampires without exception and would stop at nothing to destroy one if the opportunity presented itself. The more I pondered this, the more frightened I became of them. Still, I thought that if my aerial maneuvers were kept sharp, I might have a fighting chance if I happened upon one. Otherwise, I knew that I could easily escape, because it seemed that they were strictly earthbound. I hoped I was correct on this matter at least.

My journey took me over many lands. I saw great castles and cities, but I never felt the presence of the ones for whom I was searching. I had developed my mental discipline to quite an extent now, and I found that I could see far beyond the point at which my physical vision played out. Once, I think I had even stumbled across a vampire that Damien had referred to in passing as Dracula. He had warned me to steer clear of him, however. Apparently he wasn't the type to welcome visitors, and his powers were far beyond our reach and largely unknown. I wasn't sure if he was the owner of the castle I flew over, but it was rather ominous in appearance and very isolated. I wondered if perhaps he was deep in the sleep of ages that we vampires sometimes needed, but I didn't think I wanted to chance it. I quickly dismissed the thought. Such power-hungry lusts would surely lead to my untimely demise if not kept in check. Sometimes I had felt that Damien would fall victim to such a fate.

A Castle in the Sand

One night, a year or two after my departure from the party, my mental senses caught the familiar feeling of a vampire presence. I thought it rather odd, as I was flying over a seemingly endless expanse of desert, and my curiosity compelled me to investigate. I wondered how a kindred would be surviving out here, since I had seen little or no animal activity since I had entered the area. There were no creatures large enough to sustain one of us out here, and even if there were, they would surely be few and far between. I followed my senses for many miles before something caught my eye. Down below, there was a small spot where the sand looked like it had been recently disturbed. I landed here, and upon further inspection I found what appeared to be a panel of stone roughly the size of my hand. I felt of it, and when I did, it pushed downward. I heard the sound of stone against stone, and when I looked to my side a doorway-shaped hole was developing in the sand. After a few seconds, there was a full sized door in the ground, and I peered inside. I saw only darkness, but I had not forgotten my rather helpful abilities, and I laid my hand on the doorway. Inside my head I saw something which was really quite amazing: there was a castle here, nestled underground in the middle of a desert. I saw that there were four beings here, all of them vampires and in perfectly good health. If it had been beating, my heart would have jumped in my chest, for I recognized three of them. Grimlok was here, for one. This was the most exciting thing of course, but the others were here as well. They were moving within the walls, surely guarding this fourth vampire, who I did not recognize.

I sense that this fourth was powerful, but not beyond my abilities. Underground, however, I would have to resort to different tactics. I hesitated to step inside, for I knew that the gargoyles would sense my presence immediately and respond post haste. I did not wish to fight them, so I would need to avoid them and get to the master first. Once he was dead, the gargoyles would come to their senses. I decided I would wait until he was far enough away from them and in the correct position for me to strike. I sat outside for hours, touching the doorway and waiting for the opportunity to present itself. I would be swift, and there would be no mercy.

Sometime during the night, the fourth vampire wandered into a room in the castle where I had noticed the gargoyles never entered on their patrols. I pondered this for a moment and soon I had the answer: it was his library. Foolish Tremere, always hoarding their knowledge and not trusting anyone else with it but themselves. I moved inside and became part of the wall. Luckily, the library was one of the rooms close to the entrance. Movement through stone is quite slow and tiresome, and if there had been too far to go, I surely would have been caught. I moved in for my attack. The vampire was situated close to one of the walls, where I assumed he was rummaging through his bookshelves. I came out directly in front of him, shoved my hand through the bookshelf and grabbed him by the head, pulling him through it and bashing his skull against the wall. He was yelling for help, but it was too late for him. It took me less that 10 seconds before he stopped screaming, and just to make sure he was dispatched, I twisted his head from his shoulders with considerable ease. I tossed the head, which was now little more than half of its original self, onto the floor beside me. There was a pile of splinters and books where I had emerged from the wall, and all of it was soaked in blood. My hunger for it nearly overcame me, but I suppressed it for the time being. There would be time to feed later.

Soon I heard stony footsteps in the hallway leading to the library. They stopped outside, and shortly afterward three gargoyles came forth from the walls beside the door. Surprisingly, they did not look shocked in the least. Grimlok was smiling, and a similar expression soon spread across my own face. I asked him where they had gone before Reinhardt's life was taken, and he said they had escaped earlier that night. They had no idea I had been a part of the whole thing, but he somehow guessed it, and they had planned to find me. They had managed to find where I was, but by the time they reached the castle, we had been sent into exile already. After that, they simply went wandering, as I had been doing. They were taken captive by the owner of this underground castle, but the fool never bound them to him. They were plotting to take him out the very next night, but I had taken care of him for them. Grimlok was impressed with my skills, but I knew he was still much stronger than I.

I asked if they would join me in my travels, but Grimlok refused my offer, and not without some hesitation. He said that we would be better off apart, and that we should all go our seperate ways. Those of us who had telepathic abilities could keep track of the others, but our communication by such means should not be frequent, and should be kept brief for purposes of keeping ourselves secret to prying minds. We all knew of our weakness, being extremely susceptible to manipulation and control by others because of what we were created for, and we would take care not to let it be exploited. After a few hours of discussion, we decided it was time for us to break fellowship and go forth into the world on our own. I gladly fed upon my kill, taking his very soul in the process. A surge of knowledge hit me, and in it I saw how he had been feeding. It involved some sort of magic, which I suddenly knew the basics of myself, but I rejected this power as soon as it came to me. I wanted no part of the Tremere sorcery which had been used for so much evil.

After this was done, we said our goodbyes, and when we were all outside, I closed the door and destroyed the panel which opened it, ensuring that this haven would never be used again. We turned, backs to each other, to the four points of the compass, and took to the skies. I never looked back, as this would become my custom when saying goodbye to someone I would likely never see again. I was headed south myself, into yet another part of the world I had not seen, and my sense of adventure was once again burning as it had some time ago. Yet, there was still a cold twinge of fear and foreboding in my head, and it grew more prominent as the days wore on. My day of reckoning was growing near.