Book I: The Three Dynasties

Chapter VI

The Infestation

"Oh but these were not the Lycans that you know… no, disgusting though your brethren may be at least they are evolved. But these Lycan were raging monsters, never able to take human form again." Official Coven historian Andreas Tannis (in exile)- 2002

A shot of fear tore through the hearts and souls of the Warlords and their men as the guards who had previously been going about their business began to contort and transform into terrifying hell hounds. The three beasts began to lash out scattering the heavily armed men to one side. One of the hell hounds launched forward, pinning Lord Viktor to the ground. As Corvinus's men rushed to subdue the other two, Viktor was left at the mercy of the beast. Just as all seemed to be lost a small hand axe was driven into the beasts snout, as a blue faced warrior drew his sword, yet the beast did not seem fazed, then more swords began to pierce the hell hounds thick furry hide, first from Kraven, then from Arthur, then from the other men. Yet the beast would not die, finally the wolfen creature was wrenched from the fallen form of Lord Viktor by the near immeasurable immortal strength of his host, Alexander Corvinus. The beast charged him, yet Alexander was able to wrestle the snarling monster to the floor, delivering clubbing blow after clubbing blow until its fierce growl was little more than a whimper. As the beast struggled to its feet, Alexander's immortal son joined his side, unsheathing his sword he held it high above his head, bringing it down with one swift motion he severed the wolfs head from its body. "What do we do father?" Markus asked anxiously.

Alexander turned his icy gaze to the other two monsters, as his men tried in vain to keep them at bay with pikes and spears. "It would appear that you and I alone posses the strength to vanquish these monsters… steel does not hurt them." Just as Alexander finished his sentence a flaming arrow shot past the two immortals driving itself deep into the chest of one of the beasts, as the flames spread through the beasts dry and matted fur the wolf man began to howl in agony. "Good work." Alexander nodded to one of Arthur's men as he removed his cloak. "Now pull back… this will not take us long."

As the courtyard emptied Markus dispatched the flaming hell hound in the same manner he had dispatched the first... both father and son shared a momentary glance before circling the final beast.

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One Month Later

The heavy wooden gates to Arthur Vorenus's Roman like fortress slammed shut behind the war lord. He looked around his usually empty courtyard, however these days it was packed full of peasants and farmers who dare not tend their lands anymore, for fear of the ranging beasts that stalked the savage lands. Instead they sought refuge anywhere they could, fortresses, churches, anywhere. A tired Arthur was relieved as he saw his young daughter run towards him. "Amelia." He smiled widely.

"Father you are injured." She spoke nervously as she inspected a cut on her fathers forehead.

"I am fine." He assured her.

"Have you done it yet father… have you destroyed those monsters yet."

"Not yet…" he confessed after a moments hesitation "…but soon." Arthur stopped and turned his attention to the refugees that now occupied his fortress like home "I give all of you my word that we will vanquish these monsters very soon. Now tell me daughter, where is my Viceroy? I must speak with him."

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"How many did you kill My Lord?" Eli asked impatiently as Arthur reentered his throne room.

"Four… maybe five" Arthur told him.

"And how many men did you lose killing these four or five beasts?"

"Forty seven." Arthur reported gravely "These creatures are so strong… even when they are set ablaze they still fight on… the only way to kill them is to decapitate them, that is not an easy task, their strength, their speed… they have no weaknesses."

"How many are there now?" Eli asked nervously.

"Your guess is as good as mine old friend, we have not even been able to get close to William. Rumor has it that Alexander and Markus Corviuns have not returned to their home since that first night… that they are constantly moving through the savage lands killing these creatures one by one."

"And to think… we used to curse their strength." Eli half joked

"Now they are the only things that are keeping these beasts from destroying us all. I need more men Eli… I need more men."

"There are no more men my Lord." Eli pleaded "Everyone of age is already under arms, so is every old man and lad capable of carrying a weapon…"

"I want you to send men to all the villages, I want every hunter, poacher and game keeper in these lands to join the hunt, also, send more dogs into the woods, at least they do not turn when they are bitten."

"Has the use of hounds been successful?" Eli asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Marginally." Arthur nodded. As he finally sat down to take the wait off of his feet the large wooden doors to his Throne room swung open… "What is the meaning of this?." He bellowed.

"Forgive me My Lord." A young soldier panicked "But messengers have arrived… from Constantinople."

"Send them in." Arthur swallowed hard

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(A/N everything in Italics is being spoken in Greek.)

Arthur had cleaned himself up quickly and sat atop his throne in his finest armour, a ring of golden leaves adorning his head, Eli stood hunched by the side of his throne, as he courtiers and guards lined the sides of the Throne room. The doors opened once again, as a toga wearing nobleman wearing a golden laurel reef of his own entered the room flanked by two legionnaires from Constantinople.

"Greetings Lord Arthur!" The toga wearing man greeted him "Emperor Justinian extends his warmest feeling to you."

"The Emperor honours me." Arthur nodded "But tell me, what business does the Emperors delegation have in the savage lands."

The man in the toga did not answer him he merely nodded to one of the legionaires who stepped forward carrying a small wooden barrel, placed it at the foot of Arthur's Throne and then took his place behind the toga wearing dignitary. Arthur eyed the barrel cautiously before slowly opening it. When he did he closed his eyes tightly as the severed head of one of those horrific hell hounds stared back at him "Then the emperor knows?" He spoke nervously.

"Of course the Emperor knows!" The dignitary spat back at him "This monster was killed not ten miles from Constantinople."

"I thought we had them contained." Arthur said with a frustrated sigh. "You have… well most of them, there have only been a hand full of sightings beyond the savage land, and to my knowledge this is the only one to have traveled that far east… rumor has it that these things were spawned here… by the same undying warlord that your father was sent to stop."

"Those rumors are true… but I will stop theses creatures."

"For your sake I hope this is true Arthur." The dignitary spoke menacingly "For the Emperor will not tolerate failure for much longer."

"You must realize that these creatures have no weakness, it will take time to quell this infestation."

"That is where you are wrong." The dignitary smiled slightly "You see unlike the primitive company you keep, the emperor has access to the finest Alchemists, Holy Men and Physicians in the World… and in his eternal the Wisdom the Emperor has found these demons weakness."

"What is it?" Arthur asked anxiously

The dignitary nodded to the second legionnaire who stepped forward, he was carrying a long, flat box, placing it at the foot of Arthur's throne he to withdrew back to his original position. Arthur anxiously opened the box, only to laugh slightly at his contents. "Daggers…" He laughed out loud "Daggers…" Arthur held up the box containing six identical weapons, each about ten long, their blades polished to perfection with gold trimmed handles. "This is the emperors weapon… a box of ornamental knives. You fool… these beasts are impervious to steel… they laugh at it."

"Yes they do." The dignitary agreed "But these daggers are not made of steel… they are made of silver… these creatures are clearly denizens of hell, the Emperors Holy men… in their wisdom surmised that if steel could not vanquish these monsters, perhaps the purifying kiss of a Holy metal could… and they were right, silver burns the flesh of these beasts… it hurts them more than fire… and if you are able to pierce their hearts, or their brains or any of their organs they die… and they stay dead. The weapons you hold in your hands were designed by the Emperor himself, forged from the finest silver in all of the Empire… and blessed in the Vatican by the Pope himself."

"Tell the Emperor that I will use these weapons to cure this plague of beasts."

"I am glad to hear it Arthur." The dignitary smiled "Because the Emperor will not tolerate failure, you have been a most useful ally to us Arthur, but if so much as one more of those beasts ventures out of the savage lands in the cradle of civilization that is his Empire… well, it will not just be the beasts that are the Emperors enemy… do you understand Arthur?"

"Perfectly." He nodded coldly.

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Arthur paced the floor of his private chambers, the events of the day still weighing heavily on his mind. "If we make an enemy of the Emperor all is lost." He spoke wearily

"What will you do My Lord?" Eli asked

"I want all of our men armed with silver weapons… take it from the mines, melt down my own personal supply… raid the churches."

"The people will not like you raiding the churches My Lord."

"True Viceroy, but they will like being eaten alive by rabid beasts even less. I want you to go to Viktor, take two of the daggers to him, inform him of the beast's weakness and of the Emperors disapproval… even Viktor must heed the Emperors word."

"Viktor has still not recovered from his injuries my Lord, the monster that attacked him weeks ago left its toll."

"No matter how injured Viktor is we still need his silver, and his men… here." Arthur called as he threw a pair of the silver daggers to Eli, you may as well have these old friend."

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A spray of blood and gore splattered across Alexander Corvinus's face as he pulled apart the jaws of one of the hell hounds. He and his immortal son had been fighting an exhausting battle against the beasts since that first night. Now he stood amongst the fallen bodies of a whole pack of the wolf men. He looked around for any sign of the men that had accompanied him, they were all dead. He severed their heads one by one so they would be spared the curse that had already befallen so many others. Feeling overwhelmed by the carnage he was a part of he finally gave up. "Markus!" He called out. "Markus!"

"What is it father?" A tired Markus Corvinus answered as he emerged from the trees.

"Did any of your men survive?" Alexander asked breathlessly.

"No." He replied gravely.

"We have been tracking William for weeks, and we are still no closer to him… lets go home my son."

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There was a heavy weight on Markus Corvinus's heart as he lay on a bed for the first time in a month, he wanted nothing more than to be out there finding his brother… to cure him of this terrible affliction. He felt guilty as he allowed his eyes to close relishing the comfort his bed brought him.

"Hello brother." A cold voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Henry…" Markus spoke nervously "How are you brother."

"Well… my brother has turned into a monster and murdered my wife, my father and brother have prevented me from getting revenge, my son is without a mother… and my mother is devastated, aside from that… I can't complain."

"I know you are angry brother, but what happened to your wife was not William's fault… he is ill brother, he needs her help."

"Funny brother… I seem to recall your reaction when you found out that William had laid a hand on Amelia, you left the table with a rage I have never seen before… tell me brother, what if it had been Amelia that William tore to pieces… would you be so desperate to help him then?"

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"Do you think you will ever find him?" A raven haired beauty asked as she wrapped an arm around her husband. "Alexander will I ever see my son again?"

"I will do everything in my power to help William Helena… but William's curse is a terrible one, I feel it may just be kinder to end his suffering."

"I love you dearly husband… but I also love my sons, all of them, you will have to kill me before you kill William.

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The court yard to Arthur Vorenus's fortress was bristling with action, there were huge caldrons all over the place, each one filled with molten silver, with more and more precious objects being thrown in. There was also the sound of the blacksmiths, hammering away at their anvils, augmenting Arthur's warriors weapons with the precious purifying silver. He cast a glance to the small wooden hut that he knew his daughter occupied… he was doing this for her. He slid two of the six daggers the Emperor had given him up into his sleeve, he knew he would have time to use them soon.

"My Lord!" A blacksmith called out as he handed him his cavalry sword, now plated in silver "Is it to your liking?"

"A fine job." Arthur nodded as he inspected the sword "A very fine job."

"MY LORD!!!" A soldier called out as he ran into Arthur's court yard.

"What is it?" Arthur demanded.

"There has been a sighting sir… a monster not far from here."

"Send some men." Arthur nodded immediately.

"You do not understand sir…" The soldier continued breathlessly "… this one is huge… its fur as white as snow… like an Albino wolf."

"William." Arthur whispered.

"We believe so My Lord!"

"Ready my horse; I will lead this hunt personally."

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It was near nightfall, Arthur would rather wait until morning but this may well be the only chance he gets to kill the infestation at its source. He looks around as his men, swordsmen and Archers from all over his lands mount their horses and prepare themselves for the hunt that is to come. He watches as his pack of hunting hounds bark and howl as if they know what is coming.

"Father!" A delicate voice calls to him as he is about to mount his horse.

"Go inside Amelia." He says gently.

"Please father, do not go." She pleads, as she tugs on his cloak.

"We both know I must." He smiles gently as he kisses her on the forehead "My beautiful daughter, my most glorious accomplishment. Do not fret over the son of Corvinus, once I have quelled this infestation the Emperor will owe me a favor, you will have your pick of Constantinople's Princes."

"Father please…" She wept, in full view of everyone "… I am begging you."

"A leader must take risks for the benefit of their people Amelia, one day you will understand that… Whatever happens tonight I want you to remember that I love you more than anything on Earth or in Heaven, you are my sole reason for breathing and everything I do is for you."

"I love you father." She choked as she flung herself into his embrace.

"And I you daughter." He whispered back, before carefully removing himself from her arms "I must go now… I will see you soon."

With that Arthur leapt into the saddle of his horse and lead his men galloping into the forest, leaving his daughter alone in the moonlight, watching helplessly as her father rode off to face the monster.