Chapter 11: Facing the Fang

The group woke up to a state of chaos. To recap what had happened, they were teasing Mark and Lyn, playfully (kinda), and the two retired to their beds. No one remembered to ask if Mark had fed. This morning when Florina was sent to wake Lyn and Mark, who was usually up first, she couldn't find either of them. Florina was sent because she was good friends with Lyn and she was trying to get over her fears of men and she doesn't seem to fear Mark as much.

Everyone was talking among themselves coming up with stories of why Mark and Lyn would disappear, each being more wild and fanatical than the last. Eliwood finally calmed them down enough to suggest a search party. The group split up to find their comrades. Eliwood, Hector, Matthew, and Serra made up one group. It was all thanks to Matthew's cunning eye to see a trail in the woods. Someone was clearly stumbling around, most likely Mark, and left a trail that was cleverly hidden, probably by Lyn. They walked a little deeper into the woods before stopping. The ground below was covered with a black liquid, but they were noticing something more important. They found Mark's and Lyn's clothes hung from a string tied between two branches.

After snooping around a little while longer, the guys found Mark's underwear and Serra found Lyn's unmentionables. The group looked at each other wondering what was going on. This was not something that Mark or Lyn was likely to do. Either running around stark naked, they were too prideful for that, or committing rather adulterous acts, which Mark and Lyn wouldn't do because Mark would worry too much about Lyn aside from the fact that he would drain her energy, and Lyn, though strong outside, was very shy when confronting Mark about her feelings, if she had any for him.

They tarried not too much longer as they were anxious to find their companions. They headed towards the nearby stream and heard splashing sounds. They approached cautiously hearing Lyn moan, "Oh Mark…"

They looked at each other one last time and took a deep breath. Then they charged out to stop Lyn's and Mark's sinful acts. They hadn't got far before they felt the earth ending sharply. They looked down to find themselves charging over the edge of the patch of land and landing in the river below them. The water was quiet warm as the opening estuary was not far from them.

They looked up to find Mark and Lyn at a respectable distance covered by towels. They were looking at Eliwood, Hector, and Matthew curiously. Mark didn't look at Serra because he knew the water would cause her clothes to cling to her figure. With one look, Lyn understood what they were thinking about her and Mark.

"No, no, no guys, you have it all wrong. You see, here's what really happened."

Flashback

Mark woke up around midnight really hungry. He hadn't fed for the entire day and was starving for food or energy or whatever. He stumbled quietly (is that even possible?) into the kitchen. He went to the storage area and raided the entire stock. He paid the gold on the table and proceeded to rip into his food which was enough to feed half the army. Still feeling dissatisfied, he walked to the bar to get a drink. Again he paid but he didn't choose anything alcoholic since he can hold as much alcohol as a barrel with holes can hold water. He was busy drinking when Lyn sleepily walked in.

"Mark…wha…what are you doing down here and why are you drinking out of an ink well?"

Mark looked down to notice that in his mad rush to fill his stomach, he grabbed the ink well and was draining it. It was almost dry and they knew that the manager wasn't going to be happy about it afterwards.

"Come on Mark, wipe your face and we can buy some new ink for the manager."

"Yes mother," Mark said with a mocking smile.

Lyn smiled back before asking, "Mark you never told me about your mom. What's she like?"

Mark looked taken back by this sudden request but his face goes dark and he looks down. "Honestly Lyn, I have no idea. I don't remember anything about my family." He looked at her with a kind smile. "I'm sure that you would have been a much better one and will become a great mom someday." Lyn blushed at that comment as Mark spoke it without knowing who is was that she would have wanted to marry.

They went out after cleaning up and purchased the ink. Walking back though, they decided to take a shortcut through the woods. Mark being weaker than Lyn, tripped, even with a less heavy cargo. The ink went flying and drenched both of them in the dark substance. Lyn could only scowl at Mark but she couldn't keep it up for long.

"Mark, you look like some one dipped you into the shadows and tried to clean you up with a feather duster," she laughed.

Now it was Mark's turn to scowl and he picked up a fractured bottle that still held its contents and dumped it over Lyn's head. Lyn was shocked at this and that was how they wasted the entire ink supply. Wanting to clean off before going back empty handed, Lyn led them to the stream. Mark luckily kept some towels under his cloak which avoided most of the damage.

They undressed behind the trees and went to opposite sides of the river to wash their clothes; Mark had no intention of looking at Lyn's delicates, well maybe just a little. Still, he resisted. After washing their clothes and hanging them up to dry, they decided to take a soak in the river. Since they had towels, it shouldn't be that much of a problem.

They talked a little about themselves and their thoughts. The specifics about what they talked about will be taken out because since this story is invading their privacy, they should have a small moment to call their own. If you really want to know, then you poke your nose into other peoples' businesses, in this case private businesses, way too much. They mostly talked about the army and the happenings around them. Nothing too personal as Lyn was preoccupied with her own private thoughts and Mark was trying his best not to look below her chin.

Mark moved around for the umpteenth time trying to find a comfortable sitting rock and slipped again. This is when Lyn moaned about Mark's overpowering clumsiness. Then Hector and the others come crashing through interrupting them.

End Flashback

Hector looked at them skeptically, "Do you honestly believe that we would believe that?"

Eliwood, being the only sensible one in this story so far, spoke up in their defense, "But Hector, we did see a dark spot in the woods and it matched up with what they said about the spilling ink."

"Well I suppose, but we should all head back about now. The others will be wondering what happened to Lyn and Mark and if they created any smart swordsman or woman."

Lyn and Mark blushed at this and they went to find their clothing which was adequately dry. It seems that the rumors from yesterday hadn't let up yet. Well, they had to deal with it eventually.

Going back wasn't as bad as they thought. The group mostly left them alone and went on with their daily business. Some smiled at them but no one asked any questions. Either they finally moved on from teasing Mark and Lyn (yeah right! Fat chance of that happening) or they are afraid of Lyn coming after them on warpath again and Mark forcing them to train even harder.

They hadn't forgotten what Canas said and Mark was feeling a surge of emotions fighting to get out and force him to kiss a girl at least. He was more worried about what would happen after the kissing started. Luckily, they got to Canas in the library without causing an incident. He was inside the same room again with Erk and Lucius who looked even worse. Lyn probed at their health and wondered if Mark ever ran into this problem. Their health, which she put on a chart, was less than one point. It was like 0.00000189 (okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit). Serra and Pricilla were called in and they were healing as fast as they can. Mark was reprimanding the magic users for doing such a foolish thing, especially since he was the source of all the problems. Lyn can tell that Mark hates it when others are put in harm's way for his sake.

Canas took a breath before speaking up, "Anyway, Mark, you'll remember what I said about needing to kiss?" Mark nodded yes. "Well, that was only a temporary seal as you'll notice that your desire for more is increasing." Mark nodded again. "This seal today will make it more permanent so we won't have to recast it everyday."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa Canas," Lyn looked up sharply. "What do you mean permanent?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. Since somebody, who shall remain unnamed, messed up the earlier spell, Mark is like this now. Either way he'll be an incubus, but with this, he'll be in more control and there won't be any little Marks running around."

"But isn't there a…"

"I'm sorry Lyn, my lords, and Mark. There are no other options." Canas concluded softly.

Mark didn't say anything. He just nodded his head to show his consent. Canas led him to the circle and the three magic users started the second spell to make it more permanent. After they were done, Mark just looked at them.

"Mark, are you alright? How do feel?" Lucius asked.

Mark looked down at himself, flexed a little bit, and looked back up at them with a quizzical expression on his face. "Yeah, I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Hmm…" Erk thought. "Perhaps Mark is different. Technically, you should be out for an hour or so. Your body may be different to an extent that the after affects doesn't affect you. Why?..."

They thought about this for about five more seconds before Mark ushered them out and get checked by the healers. He wanted to make sure that they were properly fed and so forth and refused to move the camp until they are back to full health.

Mark wasn't feeling any different. He didn't feel that compulsive to go after the females. He learned that if he ate larger than normal meals, he can stave off the urge to feast for a while. He still needed to feed on a host though; human food can only do so much.

The army also received some disturbing news. A letter arrived for them while they were in the port. It was signed by someone with red ink, AKA blood, and it held disheartening news.

Dear Fellowship of Mark,

I am well aware that Mark is changed and is now more or less an incubus. Know this though; he is not a normal one. He will still require a female host to sake his lust. I know about the ritual so he won't do anything too bad except for stealing a girl's first kiss. That is a serious offence to all the guys who are reading this. Anyway, he will not only need to sake his lust, but he will also periodically need to sake his bloodlust. During this period, he will want to spill and drink blood. Be careful his is highly dangerous during this time. Luckily, his bloodlust is more or less predictable than his lust. According to my calculations, his bloodlust should be sometime around the new moon, that's when it is not visible, Hector. You can trust me, or you can deem me untrustworthy. You'll just have to see.

Luxuria, daughter of

Uther, of the clan

Sauris, of the land

Tamara

Suffice to say, Mark was very shaken up when that letter was read. He sensed that the letter had a deeper meaning but he couldn't place his finger on it. The others think that it was just a ploy by the opposition to unnerve them and that none of them had anything to worry about.

Still, Mark was concerned. On the eve of the next new moon, it was two weeks since they arrived in Tortuga and they were on the move again approximately 52 kilometers from the port, Mark decided to play it safe. He gathered chains of wrought iron and chained himself to the inside of a storage compartment. He also put a lock on the outside and told everyone that none may approach no matter what happens until morning when the sun comes out, not one minute earlier.

It was horrible that night. Mark was screaming as the bloodlust controlled his mind. How dare they lock me up?! I require blood. Mark pounded the door. These thoughts raced around his head calling for blood. He clawed at everything he can find which wasn't much except for the walls and floor.

In his fury he didn't noticed. After he calmed down a little, he noticed a pool of red beneath him. Hungrily, he lunged at the crimson pool lapping up the blood. He traced the blood back to his forearm where he must have injured it while looking for blood. At this sight, even though it was his own, it drove him into another frenzy searching for more of the liquid. He tore at his skin trying to rip them to get at the liquid of life.

The rest of the army heard the screams coming from the compartment and a few made to move towards it until one of their more rational members pulled them down and reminded them of Mark's words. The howls went well into the night and most figured that the wild animals around the camp were probably too afraid to come near. Around midnight, the compartment was silent.

When the first rays of the sun peeked through the mountain tops, the lords and healers with some others rushed to Mark's holding area. A rich smell of freshly spilt blood reached their noses. They opened the door to a ghastly sight and Serra was caught by Erk before she fainted. Mark was on the ground, barely dressed as his clothes were ripped. He was bathed in blood from head to toe and deep wounds were inflicted on every place reachable by his hands. His fingernails were ripped off and blood oozed freely from the wound. He flipped his nails trying to claw his way out of the room.

Trying hard not to vomit, the healers cast their healing spells to close up his wounds. Then most of the people present ran off to find medical supplies to help Mark while the healers and the lords stayed behind to clean up Mark. The spells healed most of the flesh and skin wounds, but his fingernails will have no choice but to grow back. They carefully rinsed off the blood and bandaged what ever wounds that weren't closed with the spells, including his fingernails.

When Mark finally awoke, he found himself inside a cart that was usually reserved for the wounded warriors. Well, he supposed that he was wounded, though dishonorably so he wasn't a warrior. Lyn came in a few times to check up on him and feed him and give him water along with his medicine. Overall, Mark was very grateful. He also asked several questions about what happened to him. He couldn't remember his night very well.

After explain to the best of her ability, Lyn made to leave before noticing Mark fumbling around with his bandages. He wanted to remove them. Lyn rushed forward to stop him.

"Come on Lyn, why can't I remove them?"

"You know good and well why. You have to get better."

"But they itch so badly!"

"Well…what?"

"You heard me, they itch."

"Wounds aren't supposed to itch."

"Well, they ache as well but my fingers really itches."

"Hold on Mark, I'll call the healers to see what's up."

Lyn left Mark to find the others. Mark meanwhile was still fidgeting. By the time Lyn came back, Mark got the bandages off of his fingers and was staring at them in shock of what had happened. The others were also staring in shock. His fingers were almost completely healed. His nails grew back to nearly its normal length. It seems Mark is just full of surprises.

Well, the bloodlust was the easy part. It was predictable and Mark basically healed himself once he woke up and the healers just have to heal him once they find him in the morning. His actual lust for females was a bit harder to control. Often, he would sneak glances at the girls.

He would keep himself restrained from going near them unless it was necessary, but he looked up at them whenever he could. Nearly every girl had caught his eye. Even little Nino, whom Mark admitted was too young and he shouldn't be looking at her or any girl in such a demeaning way. That and that Nino had Jaffar as a bodyguard and Mark didn't want to have to face him, even if he'll probably win against the assassin.

One day Mark just couldn't control it. He was weak and hungry from depriving himself of the energy. He was tired and just wanted to collapse, but he didn't for some reason. Noticing this, Eliwood recommended for Mark to take a nap. Mark politely refused. Eliwood knew that his tactician and friend couldn't go on like that for much longer so he had Lord Pent prepare a special sleeping draught and put it into Mark's food. Mark at it and went out like a light. Hector moved him to his tent for some well deserved peace and quiet.

Mark woke to see himself walking. He can tell that it wasn't his own free will that was making the body move. It was something else. He saw his reflection when he passed a pan in the kitchen. Someone else was controlling him!

"Correct Mark, as always."

"Who are you? Show yourself."

"How am I going to do that? I am you."

"What?!"

"Well, I'm the demon part of you that is released since you were depriving yourself of nutrition. Being the kind person that I am, I decided to help you out to find you a feast. How about her?"

"No, you leave Florina out of this. She is just getting over her fear of men and I'm not letting you undo my work."

"Fine, fine. Who would you like to feast on then? Don't worry about the details. Just pick a girl and I'll handle the rest. Pick a good looking one please."

"No that's disgusting. The females are humans as well and so doing that is just wrong."

"Well we don't really have much of a choice Mark. You have these two choices, you can either save yourself and place one girl at a small risk or you can sacrifice yourself and let the army grieve and die at the hands of the opposition. Choose."

"I choose neither. I'll find a way to survive without having to use them."

"Oh how selfish of you, wanting both. Well, you don't really have that much of a say in the matter since I'm controlling your body. So just sit back, relax, don't worry I'll even let you feel what I'm going to do to one of the lucky girls."

"What?! No, don't…"

The demonic Mark smirked, his first victim. Lyn was just walking right up to him. This was too easy. He droned out his other self and walked towards Lyn.

"Lyn would you come by my tent tonight?" Mark asked in a seductive voice.

Lyn's eyes seem to glaze over slightly before they returned to normal and she replied, "Sure Mark, I'll be there."

"Great, I'm sure we'll have fun." Mark left with a feral grin.

That night Lyn showed up like she was supposed to. Mark stood out of his chair and walked to her.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh no Lyn, you see, I didn't have anything to talk about. I came here for some action."

"What do you mean?" Lyn asked nervously as she backed up against the tent wall.

"Oh, you'll see." Mark said in a voice layered unknown magic. He walked closer to her and opened up his mouth. Lyn could see his canines growing sharper and longer. It wasn't long before she was engulfed in a field of pitch darkness.

Don't worry, Lyn will be fine. It's not too bad. Mark is honorable... enough. Just read the next chapter to find out what really happened. Sorry if this chapter moved on so fast. I think I was half asleep when I was writing this.