Ch 1: Resurrection
For an eternity, I drifted in darkness. Blindly I floated in Nosgoth's nether world. I had thoughts, but I have no form. I did not know which way was up and down, which was left and right, all I knew was that I will always be here. Until I felt a sudden pull on my soul, a gravitational pull so great that I cannot resist.
And slowly I awoke in a world of decay. The stench of dankness and age old rotten flesh filled my senses. Had I realized it was the stench of my own body, I would've fainted. I did not remember who I was. But at that moment, when I could sensed my body moving, when I could feel that I was breathing, and my eyes were adjusting, I knew that I should—
"Get up." Said a voice. As I sat up from the casket, I saw the chamber of where I was buried. A circular domed chamber, lined with six caskets, with names etched on the adjacent wall. All of which I felt were hauntingly familiar to me. And in the center of this chamber stood a figure. Although the chamber was dark, I could see that he wasn't human.
"Who are you?" I asked, warily.
"I am Kain." Slowly he walked up to me, yellow eyes like those of a black panther, gleaming. "Your master."
"Is this a crypt?" I asked, as I got out of the casket and observe the place more closely.
"You have been dead for over a thousand years."
"How did I die?"
"You were killed." Kain said firmly.
As I get out of the casket, I felt dizzy; my body didn't feel like it was my own. I come to realize that what Kain said was true, my body has lay dead for a thousand years, and I could barely stand up, let alone walk. As I take my first step, I felt the floor's uneven-ness, and lost my balance. Kain came and supported me.
"Who am I?"
"You are Raziel, my first son. Settle down, my child, you will need to feed soon."
"Feed?"
"Yes, you are a vampire, Raziel. And after so long a slumber, you will need replenishment. "
"How was I killed?" I asked, I don't remember anything at all. But I was dead, and very rarely do corpses have memories of past lives. My head hurts if I tried to recall even a single hint of who and what I was.
"You were betrayed, Raziel, by one of your own. You and the rest of the fallen warriors here betrayed and killed by a single soul." He gestured at the remaining five caskets.
"How's so? Were you—" My head hurts again, and I fall back against a wall, weak and tired.
"You need time to rest. I will tell you of the past later, when you are fully restored. Now, let me resurrect the rest of your brethren." And slowly he walked over to the casket of someone named Turel. He lifted up his right hand and effortlessly removed the top of the casket with telekinetic powers. The fume of dankness and decay once again rises up into the air, along with the millennium old dust. He peered inside to see if indeed it was the body of Turel that lays dormant, and with both hands wide spread, he gathered out a human shaped shadow from his very being, as if he was stripping out a piece of his very own soul, and with this shadow, I see a blue spark emerged from the ground and hovered around the shadow Kain made. As Kain casts his shadow into the casket, the blue spark followed. And instantaneously there came an eerie blue glow of light emitting from within the casket, accompanied by what sounded like a hymn of the underworld. As the glow slowly fated away, Kain steps back and await his creation. Within a few moments, there came a heavy breathing sound, and slowly from the casket a hand rose up and held onto to the ledge of the casket. Slowly, the body followed the same motion, as Turel gets up; he looked around the room with confusion, as if looking in from another world.
"Where am I?" Turel asked.
"In your grave." I answered.
"And you?"
"I am Kain, he is Raziel." Kain interrupted. "And you two will be my right and left hand man." He led Turel next to me. "Wait here, Turel." He commanded, and obediently, Turel stood there and waited.
One after another, Kain raised the remaining four vampires in the same manner, and called them based on the names etched on the walls. After raising Turel and I, he resurrected Dumah, Rahab, Zephon, and Melchiah in that order. Each of us were a little decayed after all these years in the burial chamber, it was Kain's gift that helped us restore ourselves to our original form. Even so, Kain was weary when he finally got to Melchiah, and as such, it took Melchiah a longer time to regenerate lost skin and muscles.
With his generals raised, Kain led us out of the crypts, and into a city. We ventured onto the streets of Meridian City. It was nighttime then. I look up and saw the bright round moon hovered above us all.
And in the moonlight, I finally get to see the true faces of my maker, and my brethren.
Kain was a vampire with marble white skin, along with a head of long white hair. Although he has a face of a mid thirty-year-old man in mortal years, I felt that he was quite ancient and powerful. In the light, I could see that he had on a red chain mail, covered yet by a set of black plate armor, lined with faded gold. The armor looked ancient, like its bearer, but it illuminated a faint glow, as if to say that it was no ordinary armor, as if it was forged by dark magic.
I looked at myself, and at my brethren, and realized that we were ancient warriors as well. But unlike Kain, we were tethered, worn out, and forgotten. Some of us were buried with our weapons; Melchiah and Rahab were carrying broken halves of their old pikes, not as weapons, but as walking sticks to support themselves. Under their pressure, the pike halves creaked and finally broke into even more halves, rendering themselves useless. And seeing this, I truly wondered, has it been over 1000 years?
From the light, I could see that we all wore similar clothing, sets of old armors, of different colors, covered with a white breast plate and shoulder plates, each bearing a common symbol, though the symbols themselves have faded already. But what I noticed the most, was a stab wound in the chest and the back. Whoever that killed us, didn't show any sign of mercy. But that's all I can tell from looking at us. Whoever we were, we have very little hint of it. And so, all we have to believe in, were Kain's words.
We were in the Upper City of Meridian, as Kain told us. Before us, stood the massive edifice that was Cathedral of the City. Its bright stained glass emits a nice warm glow of chimney fire. And so, we went in to take comfort in its warmth. Once inside, a local bishop, who has paid Kain the utmost respect, greeted us.
"Welcome to my humble cathedral, Lord Kain." The bishop bowed. "How may I serve you today?"
"Bishop, these are my new lieutenants, they are in need of nourishments. Give them what they need, or I shall feed them the nuns and monks from this church."
"Please, no need to do that, my lord." The bishop cowered in front of Kain. "I shall attend to them at once."
"Do not forget that I have saved your highest Priest centuries ago, and have indeed preserve your religion's petty existence throughout the ages."
"Never forget, my lord." Quickly, the bishop disappeared down the corridor.
Kain watched the old man hurried away, and turned to us. "We are the rulers of this world. Vampires ruling over humans, the natural order, as it should be. Do not forget what you are." He turned towards the bleachers. "The bishop should be here soon."
I wandered the church on my own, leaving the others behind, and observe the edifice I was in. I marveled at the beautiful stain glass mounted on the windows, and observed collages of fairies and angels. It's strange how Kain would allow these humans to worship things of such purity and innocence. But my question has been answered as I looked more closely and saw that these fairies were merely beautified images of vampires.
"They worships us and fears us, Raziel." Kain came up from behind me, and laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "We are gods to them, and seeing how there are no other signs of divinity in this world, we may very well fit that role."
"And what do we give in return for their worshiping?"
"Isn't living rewarding enough?" Kain chuckled. "You mustn't feel too sympathetic for them Raziel, sympathy is sign of weakness. And being my first lieutenant, I would expect you to be the strongest of them all." He gestured to my brethren. "Come, it is time to feed."
Led by the bishop, we ventured to the dungeons under the cathedral. The place was moist, and dimly lit. In here, I saw peasants locked behind cages, derived of food and water. Some were even dead. As we walked deeper, I saw dazed prisoners, chained up on small crucifixes, repeatedly saying "please! Help me kind sir!"
"What manner of people are these? Why are they kept here?" I asked.
"They are delusional. They need to be kept from society." Kain answered.
"Are we to feed on them?" Dumah asked.
"You may feed on anyone of these as you wish, Dumah. But, I have told the bishop to find more…refreshing meals for you."
At the end of the long dungeon hall, we have reached a slightly larger cage. And in here, chained to the wall, with their feet dangling, were six prisoners. Only these prisoners were dress differently from the others. They were obviously not peasants, and certainly not delusional. Each of them wore a warrior's garment, leather boots and tough cloth overalls. And each of them bears a common en sigma, a pair of crossed swords.
"I will never surrender to the likes of you and your blood sucking kind!" The chained up leader spat.
Kain ignored him. "These humans called themselves the Blood Hunters, the human resistances in their pathetic attempt to stop my road of ascension."
"As long as there's a single human standing, we will be rid of you, vampire!" The leader led out a final battle cry before Turel went up to him and slashed his throat. Kain simply simpered.
"I had enough of his useless whining." Turel explained himself.
"You did the right thing. Feed, while the blood is still warm."
Obediently, the rest of us stood before a captive, and like Turel, we slit their throats in one fast sweep of our new found claws. And finally, we drew out their blood across the air, from their still gushing wounds into our months. The bishop couldn't witness our gruesome habit; he shrunk away from the very sight of us. As I feel the blood of my victim courses its way into my mouth, I couldn't imagine the brutality of what I had just done. We just slaughtered six humans like cattle without even a second thought. And yet, deep down, I reveled in the power I had been given by Kain. And after the blood stopped soaring into me, I couldn't help but wanted more. With this new thirst, I walked up into the dazed prisoner from before, slashed his throat, and drank from him as well. I couldn't stand him repeating his phrase over and over again. And I did all this, without conscience, just primal instinct. When I stirred myself from my blood lust, I noticed that the rest of my brethren had followed my lead, and devoured those who are still accessible in the dungeon. The bishop was the only one that we didn't touch, since he cowered behind Kain. And still, Kain smiled at us approvingly.
Now refreshed, we exited the cathedral, and entered once again into the moonlight. I felt restored, and much stronger then I ever was. I looked down at my claws and licked my new found fangs with pride. Whoever I was in a previous life, I have less and less desire to find out anymore. And once again, I realized my humanity have changed, along with other things…