Wow...this is depressing.
Zephon
Watching Melchiah greet his family was painful, as it served to remind Zephon of what he had lost. Still, at least he was spared a sorrowful parting. His last parting with his living family, two years gone now, had been one of joy, not knowing what lay ahead of his doomed family.
Across the room, Melchiah crouched down to his son, clearly unwilling to say his farewells to his wife in front of him.
"Should I keep him amused for you?" Zephon called across, in a language he knew only Melchiah would understand.
"I think not. I don't want to rob you of this time."
"I have nothing worthy to do with this time." Save dwell on my failures. "But you need a final farewell for your wife, and such a moment should be private."
"You need not look after him. We will not have long to spend."
As if to punctuate this, a scream echoed through the room. The demon was drawing closer. Melchiah's wife's eyes suddenly filled with understanding on why she'd been summoned from across Nosgoth, and she leaned close to her husband for some final words. He laughed suddenly, a hollow sound. Zephon looked away.
Another scream permeated the room. This one was closer and higher pitched. Recognising time was short, Melchiah began donning his armour, with his wife squiring him. She then came across to offer the same service to Zephon, who accepted after a glance at Melchiah to seek his permission. This granted, he closed his eyes, the closeness of the woman again evoking painful memories.
Two years gone, after an attempted assassination, Zephon had realised that his family were under threat if they were close to him and had sent them away to another garrison of the Sarafan. Said garrison had later been overrun by a vampiric offensive. His wife had been recognised, and though it cost the lives of five prominent adult vampires, she had been captured alive and turned. His son had not been turned, and the vampires of the clan that had overrun the fortress had used him as a hostage to begin negotiations-or so Zephon believed at the time. The hostage negotiation had involved twelve senior vampires waiting for him to arrive and then teleporting away, laughing at his folly, leaving behind his now fledgling vampire wife holding his still living son in her arms, telling him that she would skin their son alive while he watched. She managed to tear his head from his shoulders just before Zephon's blade nailed her to a tree.
The twelve senior clan members had then reappeared with the bulk of their clan , attempting to attack Zephon while he was least capable of thought and escorted only by an honour guard. At which point the rest of Zephon's legion had sprung out from hiding and fell on them as they closed. Great minds thought alike. Zephon had committed to memory the faces of the twelve orchestrators and recently on the battlefield had felled the last. But the memory of the last despairing scream stayed with him, as had his wife's scream as he impaled her.
Rising from her work, Melchiah's wife returned to him for some final words, leaving Zephon to close his eyes against the tears that threatened to emerge. Strengthening his resolve, he faced the door his murderer would emerge from.
Come, demon. I have no loose ends to tie.