Now aware of the great power present in Elven blood and my own weakness to both it and its scent I turned away from my journey north and began a new journey westwards towards the lands of the Demi-humans. From what I could remember of them they were savage, cruel, and most of all a source of blood that I wouldn't have to flagellate myself over drinking.

Unlike my journey north my journey west was far faster. I didn't bother to stop and ponder the greater world or my place in it, I sinned and in my self hatred and rage I couldn't allow myself time to delve too deeply into my own psyche. What I found there I feared would break me truly and utterly so soon after the event.

It was easier to run and hide, to feed and grow and submit. With my wings and speed I crossed the vast expanses of the continent within a week, over a thousand miles crossed without rest or care for my own well being. All I wanted to do was escape the memories that haunted my every waking moment and the only way I knew to do that was to hunt and feed.

I don't know what part of myself told me that everything would be better if I just fed myself, that if I let myself become the monster that I had always been meant to be that I would never suffer again. I crushed that part of myself ruthlessly. I would not backslide farther than I already had and I would not abandon an oath made to honor others so easily.

I was going west to feed off the Demi-humans, yes that was true. I was not going to slaughter everyone in my path with no attempt to discern whether or not they deserved my wrath. That way led to man hunts, armies, and a life of war that I had no wish to ever be consumed by again.

When I did arrive in the land of the Demi-humans there were no great cities, no towering citadels or magnificent palaces. There were only rolling hills and riveting valleys, vast plains and dark forests. It was wilderness through and through, untamed and wild in every way. From the sky my view was near omniscient and I saw much during my first week in that land of savages.

I saw war waged between tribes, slaves taken, women raped, entire groups wiped out and their bodies eaten. It was a barbarian and ruthless culture where the strong ruled over the weak and the survival of the strongest was the rule of the day. I hated it instantly and wished for nothing more than to go down amongst them and bring ruin to it all.

It even occurred to me that I could probably rule here, make a kingdom for myself that the savage and unorganized Demi-humans would never be able to threaten in the same way the Empire of the Six had been able to do. I quickly dismissed that notion after a few minutes of thought, I had no wish to rule anytime soon and I would simply be doing the same thing that had so disgusted me with them.

So I watched and I waited and eventually I began to see the other aspects of Demi-human culture. The Demi-humans as should be obvious were a diverse and mixed race where tribes were split along specified lines. You would not see wolf-men mixing with Quagoas, or Bytlians mixing with kobolds. Like their diverse peoples, so too were their cultures very diverse and specific to each individual tribe and race while also mixing together despite their animosity towards one another. The races could and did work together, trade, and even form alliances.

They were not as I had initially thought purely savage and animalistic, even if they weren't far from it in my eyes. After that week of observation I had seen all that I had needed to see, I knew my targets now. The outcasts and exiles that had committed crimes so terrible that they were no longer welcome within their home communities, the killers that went from one tribe to the next looking for ever more blood to spill, and leaders who thought to propagate their war-like ways.

They would become my prey and I would hunt them in the night like the predator I was.

At first my hunts were small scale and careful. I always made sure to dispose of the bodies where none would find them and none of those I killed were in groups larger than three. It was a slow and cautious return to the life-style that I had been made for after years of peace interrupted by a singular instance of slaughter.

Demi-human blood was different from the blood of men and elves. It was never the same, even with the same race the taste, smell, and power of the blood all varied from individual to individual. Some of them weren't even the equivalent of beasts, their blood was weak and unsatisfying in its blandness, my soul barely grew from drinking them dry.

Others were near the equivalent of a human's blood, though never the exact same, either being weaker or stronger on a sliding scale that never quite reached the level of beasts or elves. It was the leaders however that were the greatest. Their blood was like sweet nectar, different from the taste of an elf but no less powerful, no less satiating.

Despite their taste I made sure to keep to my promise and my ideals and didn't suddenly begin hunting down the strongest of them, instead I stayed my path and only went after those who either would not be missed or propagated the Everwar of the Demi-humans. I spent a year of my life in this way, slowly hunting down the worst of Demi-human society and my hunts steadily grew larger.

I always made sure to clean up after myself lest the legend of the Lord of Crimson be reborn and the Six find out I was alive. Even so I fed more freely as I felt my own growth which had nearly stagnated for so long begin again. I still did not know what that growth was just as I do not know now what it truly is, though I believe it to be evolution in action.

It was intoxicating in a way the blood could never be. That feeling of strength flooding through my veins whenever I reached some unseen milestone. My soul grew, my magic deepened, my body became stronger and faster, and the world slowed imperceptibly to my senses as my thoughts quickened. I was evolving in real time to become an ever more dangerous monster than I had been before.

In the end it was not a choice I would have made of my own will to leave the lands of the Demi-humans. After a year and a half living within those wild lands filling more in control of myself than I ever had before I felt the pull of my oath pointing me east to the Six and their steadily expanding Empire.

It had been almost ten years since I had made that pact with the boy who had the bravery to stand before me and ask for the chance to become like me. Even if I knew originally he had been asking for death at my hands I still admired him, because in the face of overwhelming savagery and bloodshed he had not flinched.

He had only solidified that respect when we had fought all those years ago. His win in our duel was no fluke nor a plan on my part to let him win. It had to be convincing how he won against me after all and he had bested me all the same. He came closer than anyone before had to truly killing me, and if he had truly been intent on ending me that day I feel that I may not have been able to escape.

With the time of our oaths fulfillment coming close I took to the skies on bestial wings and crossed the continent once more. The memory of my sin still weighed heavily on my mind, as it always would, but the time in the lands of the Demi-humans had done me good. The killing of the evil and tyrannical had allowed me to at least pretend to make up for my actions and that was enough for me to return to the lands of men with my head clear and my mind sharp.

Using my blood and the call of the oath I was able to locate him with ease. Suddenly I realized my mistake when I gave him the task of proving himself worthy of my gift when I did find him.

He had been a champion last we met, forged in the fires of war against the Demi-humans and quenched in the blood of my knights during the cleansing of Tob. When I found him he had risen far higher than ever before, it was obvious from the magnificent palace and city that surrounded it. In the night I moved through the shadows searching for the prisons and before long I found it.

It was a large stone building that was similarly gilded as the rest of the city with silver and copper. Transforming into a rat, and yes the full body transformation had been another skill I had unlocked during my time hunting the Demi-humans. It had come to me like a bolt of lightning about four months into the hunt when I crossed that unseen threshold yet again and I felt the click in my soul that instinctively told me I could go further with my transformations.

With the ability to full transform into various beasts and animals I was far more capable of moving through the world unnoticed than I had been before. An ability I used to great effect in the city of my soon to be first child to sneak into the depths of the prison and find my first human victim in almost six years.

I was not here simply to feed however, I was there with a goal. I needed to figure out all I could about the state of the Empire of the six and my future child's place within it. It didn't take long for me to come across a prisoner that had obviously been thrown into the depths recently. She was dressed in fine silken clothes that had once upon a time might have looked quite regal and awe-inspiring.

After a short time in the cells however it was covered in filth and grime while her hair had matted and her face was marked by the streaks left from where her tears had ruined her makeup. Even still she was quite beautiful and were I still a man I might have even felt bad about what I was about to do to her. I wasn't a man however and she was in a cell, I cared not if she was guilty or innocent I only saw the cell.

She tried to scream when I appeared and sank my teeth into her soft and supple neck but a hand over her mouth was enough to silence her. My other pulled her close so that she would not be able to escape. It would have been a bold and scandalous position to hold any other time. I had no doubt with one arm cradling her bust and the other keeping her from escaping my bloody kiss we looked like the most dreaded of lovers.

Her memories were much more interesting than her body ever was. I will not lie. Of course there was the chaff dealing with her life, hopes, and dreams but I ignored that. There was a scene of a murder and her apprehension by my future child and her eventual imprisonment here.

What I truly cared about however was the treasure trove of knowledge she held as the daughter of a noble and the wife of a Viscount in the service of my child to be. In the years since my death he had risen high in the service of the Six. His victories against the Demi-humans had gained their attention and his victory over me had gained their favor. Enough so that he was given a genuine position of command over the conquering armies of the Empire that he used to wage war anew against the Heteromorphic races that ruled in the east.

He won great victories there and in only two years after my defeat he had captured a piece of land nearly the size of England from the non-humans. He returned to the Empire a hero and the Six agreed to grant him any request he so wished, and to their surprise he requested to be allowed to stop fighting and take up lordship of a frontier city in need of a new lord. Befuddled that he had not asked for more, but also happy to reward their loyal servant they granted his request.

The last three years of his life had been spent bringing the city itself to prosperity, trying and failing on many occasions but persevering nonetheless. While not the largest, wealthiest, or most militaristic of the Empires cities it was powerful even still and it was growing quickly. His connections had only helped in the process.

I also learned his name through her memories. Apparently he had been nameless before my defeat but he had been bestowed one by the six afterwards. Carmine Fiend-Slayer they named him, and it was the name which he had used forever afterwards.

Information obtained and a snack secured I let her fall to the ground dead. I disposed of her body quickly by reaching out into her body cells and pulling her apart cell by cell. It was a difficult process and one that required me to use some of my own blood as a catalyst but it was effective nonetheless at cleaning up the scenes left behind by my hunts.

I exited the prison quickly enough in the form of a rat once more. With everything I needed to know secured from the woman's memories I wasted no time approaching the palace. He had met my expectations and far exceeded them in pretty much every way, to a point where I felt real and genuine excitement for the first time in years.

I wouldn't be alone soon. Soon I would have another like me, the first of my kind in this world whom I could groom and mold, raise and mentor. The thought alone was enough for me to speed up my movement through the city and soon enough I had taken upon the form of a crow perched upon his window sill.

He was working when I found him deep in the night. His candles were burning low and he was hunched over his desk while another more shapely form slept within his bed. I knew of course that he had married in the time since he had taken lordship of the city, but it was another thing to look upon this boy turned man and know that soon everything would change.

Silently I used a bit of my blood to pick the lock on the window and lift it just enough to where I could squeeze in as a fly. I reformed into my original shape behind him. I was silent and my transformation caused no sound, and yet he reacted instantly all the same. One moment he was crouched over his work and the next a blade was moving for my neck.

I caught his hand with ease and a simple exertion of my will forced him to the ground as my blood in his body forced him to bend to my will. Yet another thing I had learned to do during my time with the Demi-humans. It was quite the useful ability, especially mid combat to stop my opponents cold. He looked up at me, the rage was evident, along with fear and despair.

It all disappeared when he was able to take a second and truly look at me. I hadn't changed much since he had last seen me. I didn't age nor did I scar, but that didn't matter. He had only met me thrice in his life, once as a boy of no more than eighteen, then as a warrior into his twenties, and now as a Lord nearing his thirties.

I didn't blame him for not recognizing me instantly, he did not yet have the eidetic memory inherent to my lineage of Vampire after all.

I spoke to him quietly, careful not to wake his sleeping wife. "You remember me do you not?"

He nodded, no words left his lips and the scar that I remembered was still as prominent as ever. "You remember our pact, yes? The oath that you had made to me?"

Again a nod, but this one was more hesitant, more full of apprehension. He had changed in our time apart, something I well understood. I had changed much as well during said time away.

"You told me you wished to be my Kindred. My first childe in this world to inherit my power and obtain immortality and strength unequaled. Tell me, is this still what you desire?"

He gave no immediate answer. His eyes flickered back and forth between me, his wife, and some place beyond the room in which we stood. Likely those days spent captive at the mercy of men long dead. Eventually however he answered.

He turned his head towards me and gently tilted his head to the right and left himself bare for me. I tried desperately at the time to suppress the glee that I had been feeling come to fruition.

Carefully and slowly I lowered my head as I gently cradled his own. My fangs gently pierced his skin and soon his blood began to flow through my body and even as I wished to suck him dry another instinct took over. While one hand cradled his head backwards another came up, with my wrist slit by my own claw I gently held my dripping wrist above his mouth.

Slowly my blood dripped down his throat and I pulsed my magic rapidly in a way that I knew deep within would begin the change. He began to writhe within my grasp as the last of his blood left his body and was replaced with my own. He shook and seized within my hands and soon enough he could be silent no longer as a choking gasp escaped him.

That was enough to wake his wife who jolted awake from her position on the bed. She was beautiful. Pale skinned with brilliant silver-gold hair and wide red eyes. With a flick of my wrist she was forced back into the bed and her mouth closed shut. I could feel her panic against my control but she was not my priority. She would be dealt with after my first childe had come back to himself.

Seconds ticked by and turned into minutes which transformed into hours as I silently waited and fed him more and more of my blood. Eventually after two hours of slow drip I allowed my regeneration to assert itself and close the wound. Within ten minutes his eyes had snapped open and he seized upon the floor as he tried to scream and no sound came out, at least until the transformation came to an end and the regeneration with it.

First it came out as shallow coughs, then hacking wheezes, and soon enough raspy half formed words. "Save….. Save… don't cough cough cough wheeze her…" He said desperately trying to convey to me that I had to save his wife. I of course was more than aware why he believed she was in danger from him, but I had not come this night without preparing in accordance.

Now that he had finished the first part of the transformation I could guess what would come soon, the blood lust and the animal frenzy that I hoped would be nowhere near as bad as my own had been. Reaching into the belt at my waste I pulled out a singular bottle of crimson amber.

As my power had grown so had my ability to manipulate blood in new and interesting ways, including the ability to compress it to an insane degree. The flask held nearly five gallons of blood within, all of it taken from leaders of the Demi-humans and mixed to produce the most powerful blood potion I could make.

I figured that it was magical power that the transformation required to go from the animal state to the half in control state I had been in while hunting the bandits. Aware enough to make decisions, but still controlled by my body's instincts and monstrous appetite. I hoped his body would be less encumbered by those same instincts due to its very clear original human origin, I am still unaware if this is my original body that I wear or one crafted for me.

Forcefully I grabbed him and made him chug the blood. He struggled against me, not to escape or get the bottle away, but instead to take it from me. I could see the beast withins' need for food in his eyes as they grew hazy and unfocused, the person still there and aware but only partially and unable to stop himself.

It took time as I slowly fed the blood to him but eventually the bottle was empty. I promptly produced a second, and when that ran out a third. Finally when the third bottle ran dry I grabbed my last bottle of the blood and let him drink freely. My theory proved correct as well, throughout the process he grew more and more aware, less frantic, less savage in his attempts to escape my grasp. Until eventually when the fourth bottle was drained he no longer struggled and he looked at me with the same look he always did.

"Y-ou wou-ld gi-ve… such… power-ful bl-ood free…ly?" He rasped out haltingly and with great difficulty. His regeneration hadn't yet completely healed the old wound, and combined with years without speech made every word a challenge to get out.

"Of course, anything for the first of my Children. The first of my kine and kin in this world. Congratulations Carmine Fiend-slayer, you are a Vampire of the first Generation." He lifted an eyebrow in question but I simply chuckled, he would get it soon enough. If I knew anything about Vampires it was that they almost always lost power with each Generation, and even if I wasn't that kind of Vampire it was still a nice little joke for myself.

Thankfully I was right with my guess that each generation would be weaker than the last, so my joke did eventually land. Even if it was one I wish had never been the case.

"Th-ank yo-u m-m-m-y… Lord" He said haltingly as I helped him stand. Once more possessed of the ability to stand, think, and observe his surroundings he quickly spotted his wife who was still pinned against their shared bed.

Without thinking he rushed over to her and before I could try and stop him from harming her his jaws were around her throat and blood rushed into his mouth. Instantly I was at his side about to forcefully remove him from the woman, but before I could pull him off his wrist was above her mouth in the same position mine had been when I turned him.

I could even feel his frantically pulsing magic as he copied my own technique, even if it was to my senses a less refined and powerful catalyst. Soon enough his wife too was undergoing the change and I could only watch as he put her on his shoulder and turned towards me, blood still staining his mouth. "Wh-at…are you-r or-de-rs my… Lord?"

I tried my best not to sigh as he looked at me with ill-disguised eagerness. "You realize that if you follow me you will have to abandon everything you have made here do you not? Your life will be over here, never to be resumed." I said, testing his resolve.

He nodded, the resolve in his gaze never wavering. "Thi-s nothing m-ore tha- cough cough than an att-empt to pr-ove my… wo-rth. O-ur oath n-ever left my m-ind."

"And your wife?" I asked, skeptical that she would be happy with the situation.

He looked at her as she twitched and seized in his arms. "Sh-e knows m-y am-bition. She w-ill… understand." He said, though I could detect a hint of trepidation in his words. I wished him luck with that can of worms.

I nodded and told him to gather what supplies he would need for the journey to come. No food or water would be needed, only clothes, weapons, and some basic sundries. He understood and moved quickly. Within ten minutes he had two large bags, one for himself, the other for his wife.

At my questioning look he explained that he had been preparing for this day for years and had the bags pre-packed. His wife's bag had only been made about a month ago when he felt the pull of the oath and my blood start to grow stronger and he knew the time was growing near. I complimented on being well prepared and told him to hold on tight to his wife and their bags.

While he positioned the three in his arms I broke open the window and unfurled my wings and partially transformed into a larger more Vampiric form, the one I had used during my time with the elves. While he held onto his wife and their supplies I grabbed a hold of him and with a single leap I was airborne, my destination the west.

The land of the Demi-humans would be our home for the foreseeable future. I even began to re-contemplate my plans for conquest as we flew through the sky, my new race would need a land to call its home after all.

I remember smiling as that thought crossed my mind, no longer alone for the first time in a long, long time.