Venatores Noctis: Bastard Inheritor: Chapter 1 – Born Cursed

Chapter 1 – Born Cursed

The birth of a child is a blessing, but the birth of a serf and a human’s child or a bestial is considered a curse by some since the bestial child will look beast-like at birth and have beast-like abilities when they grow up. It is also common for a human mother to not survive giving birth to the child. Despite this, Loretta and Evan Meridies still attempted to have a child. Unfortunately, Loretta had three miscarriages in the process, but still, they kept trying since both Loretta and Evan were no strangers to tragedy, and eventually, they had a baby boy both to their joy and detriment since Loretta died from giving birth shortly after and Evan died as well since the experiments done on him by the vampires had decreased his life span and made him incurably sick in his old age. Still, they named their child Nave Meridies before their deaths and seemed to be at peace for some strange reason as if God had assured them of His protection of the boy.

The Church had lost some of its major territories during this time when the extinction of the vampires was thought to be possible within a week. Current estimations say the extermination of the vampires will take another few months or even a few years with much more bloodshed and sacrifice needed to accomplish it. These events made Nave’s birth appear to be the end of the Aurora bloodline and a curse upon humanity, but still, he was cared for by beastmen from his father and mother’s army of ex-serfs. As he grew up, his beast side began to show more and more. At first, he only had pale white skin and bits of brown, black, and beige color on him. When he became a teenager, his left arm grew fur like that of a wolf, and his hair was like wolf fur as well, which he got from his father. In addition, one of his eyes became black and gold and he obtained better vision and sudden greater strength and speed.

All of this was typical of a bestial, however, the strangest change in him was that he was able to summon his family’s famous weapon to him and it won’t leave his side no matter who takes it, how far it gets from him, and how many times he’s sinned. Nave’s family passes on from generation to generation the whip that struck the back of Christ before His crucifixion, however, it was destroyed one too many times and is now nothing more than a dagger that cannot be repaired. Still, the dagger can be thrown as far as Nave can throw it and dematerializes itself into a golden mist before materializing in the same way in his hands, which are also blessed just like his father’s. These abilities were enough for the Church to accept him into her army to be trained as a soldier except he was trained in the army of beastmen because of his abilities and because people still consider him cursed since the vampires have still yet to be exterminated.

Even with Nave’s abilities and willingness to dedicate his life to God, he and the other beastmen are looked down upon by many in the Church and are given many of the more difficult assignments not only because they are stronger and faster than the normal human soldiers, but also because some in the Church’s leadership cares little for their well being. After one very grueling battle that results in most of the beastmen being killed, the handful of them plus Nave come back home to find that their return is not celebrated.

Many of the beastmen and their children were expecting this and walk out of the city with one saying, “They don’t care about us. Why should we continue to fight and die for them? You should join us, Nave.”

“I can’t abandon my duty to God and the Church,” Nave says.

“We aren’t abandoning the Church. I’m sure other places will accept us. If not, we’ll make it ourselves. I pray for your endeavors to change those who hate us because you’ll need more than a miracle for that.”

Speechless, Nave continues forward with fewer and fewer of his fellow bestials and beastmen behind him as they go home until he is the only one who is returning back to base to report on what happened.

Upon hearing it, one of the Church leaders appears relieved and then says, “Thanks to their noble sacrifices, the beastmen have made the extinction of the vampires within the week a real possibility.”

A debate then begins among the leaders.

“The beastmen who died might’ve won their honor today, but the rest who didn’t report back should be expunged from the army.”

“Sir, they were only disappointed that the crowds weren’t greeting them after the battle just like they do for the rest of the army. They were also very tired from the long fight, so I’m sure if you give them some time, they’ll come back and apologize for not reporting,” Nave says.

“Victory needs no celebration. Doing God’s will is enough. This just exposes their hidden pride and adds to my case that they should face some sort of punishment.”

Nave wants to point out how the Church leaders have the crowds celebrating their arrival but holds back knowing it would do him no good and just be used against him.

“Nave came back to us, so at least he must have some kind of reward.”

“Since the beastman army is down solely to him, he’ll have the honor of being our guard, a peaceful place that most veterans take that will be a good job for you since the war against the vampires will soon be over.”

“Agreed.”

“And the rest of the beastmen who didn’t report back will not have any kind of reward and face a year long penance.”

In humility, Nave kneels before the leaders, then says, “Leaders of God’s Holy Church, I humbly ask that you allow me to decide their punishment and take my part in it since I am their leader.”

“You deserve to rest after all your hard work and your humility just shows the lack of it in your beast peers, which will add to their punishment. As a favor to you, you can add whatever penance you want to the punishment that we’ll give them.”

Nave looks away then looks up to one of the leaders he thinks might pick up for him only to see the man shake his head and shrug.

Later on, that particular leader goes up to Nave and says, “It’s good that you didn’t try to argue any further. It would’ve just put you in trouble and give your soldiers even more trouble.”

“It’s already been decided that they’ll receive a punishment for their disobedience?” Nave asks.

“Yes, I’m sorry to say.”

“Can I honestly not use my position as the army’s leader nor my family’s name to sway them in any way?”

“Your family name lost all power when your parents died. There are also some who say that your family’s name lost power before that when your mother married your father and took his last name. Just try to live a peaceful life as a guard and try especially hard to not get into any trouble. Your humility today has won you some favor with the leaders.”

“It’s about time.”

“I know. Building respect takes a long time, especially because-”

“Because I’m bestial.”

“Because you’re still young. It took your father a while to gain respect and even when he had it, he still had many enemies within the Church that should’ve respected him, but don’t worry, I’ll be at your side through it all with my other friends to help you in the same way that we helped him. You aren’t alone in this so keep your head held high.”

Nave gives the man a smile as a sign of understanding and appreciation. The leader then smiles back before leaving him. This is when Nave’s smile fades before walking back to the barracks and collapsing on the floor.

He then crosses himself then says, “Are you there, guardian angel?”

“Here I am,” his angel says as it appears to him from a golden ray of light.

His angel appears like a beast just like Nave with four heads, which are that of a featureless man, lion, ox, and eagle. The angel has one limb that matches each type of head, the wings of an eagle, and the cloak made of a lion’s skin.

“Good. Can you strengthen me again to help me bring news of my soldiers’ punishment to them and convince them to stay and apologize to our leaders?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you. Can you also bring my parents to me so I can talk to them?”

“God won’t allow you to see them right now, but you can still speak to them and they’ll intercede for you.”

“But I can’t hear what they’re saying back, right?”

“Correct.”

“I don’t feel like talking to them will be enough then. I know that I should say that it’s been a blessing to see and talk to them the few times that I do, but it also feels like I’m being teased for something that I can’t have.”

“You always have your family and friends watching over you.”

“Still, it doesn’t feel like it’s enough even if I also see and talk to the people I lost in this life. People aren’t meant to be without friends and family in this life.”

“Soon enough, you will receive both.”

“Please let it be sooner rather than later.”

After talking to his guardian angel, Nave brings news of the Church leaders’ decision to his troops all of which decide to pack up, move, and tell a few other beastmen of what happened to bring them along. His soldiers don’t listen to Nave at all and no matter how he chases after them to bring them back, they won’t do it.

One of the soldiers who was most loyal to him flies away and says, “We’re subhuman to them,” as she flies away and Nave chases after her.

“But we aren’t. You can’t let them get to you,” Nave says.

“How can I when they say that the sacraments we received were invalid, our parents committed the act of bestiality, and they treat us as less than human? You should leave them like the rest of us.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Then I’m sorry. You’re on your own, Nave.”

Seeing that he’s getting nowhere with her, Nave lets her go. With all his remaining troops gone, Nave feels a sense of abandonment before his guardian angel appears to wrap its arms around him to help him bear his cross.

“I get it, I get it! I won’t let it get to me,” Nave says before storming off to rest in his bed.

Even while he dreams, he can’t find rest as his loneliness creates the people he lost in his dreams. He sees the people who raised him, the people who trained him, and the people he became close to disappear.

“This always happens to me. Whoever I get close to dies or leaves me,” Nave says.

As he dreams, Nave tries to accept the dream as reality and hold onto whoever he can in vain. Waking up in the morning, he reluctantly accepts that what he was seeing was a dream and that the present moment is reality before getting dressed in his new guard outfit, which hides all his beastly features. Today, he guards the leaders as they hold a private meeting with no one allowed in without their permission. The only other thing they ask for him to do besides guard the door is let in a general they are waiting for. It isn’t lost on Nave that his experience as a leader is being deemed unimportant, but he tries to ignore this fact while standing guard. An hour passes before he hears a loud in the mostly soundproof room. Investigating it, he finds that most of the leaders have died from a poison that was in their drinks and food and the ones that didn’t drink and eat were killed by a vampire wolf that’s wearing a cloak and light armor to hide its human skin and is currently escaping via the hole in the wall it entered through.

“Stop!” Nave says before throwing his dagger at the wolf.

The wolf dodges his dagger and begins its quick escape. Running after it, Nave finds that his heavy armor is slowing him down so he takes it off. With it off, he’s able to catch up, however, the wolf has reinforcements. Three wolves covered in black armor ambush Nave from the alleyways forcing him to fight them. He throws his dagger into the head of one, dematerializes it, throws it into the neck of another, and dematerializes again before killing the last by shoving his dagger into the heart of a wolf before trying to catch up with the assassin wolf. Many more wolves come at Nave to slow him down and are dispatched hastily by Nave stabbing them or throwing his dagger in their head, neck, and chest, but despite how fast he is able to get rid of his distractions and how fast he moves, he isn’t able to find the wolf and informs the other guards about what happened so that the city is put on high alert.

After searching for a while, the general the rest of the leaders were waiting for finally arrives. Many exit their homes to greet him and his forces when news of their arrival reaches them. When Nave hears this news, he quickly rushes to him to tell him what happened.

“Sir Zhuge, I’m sorry to sour your return home, but the leaders of the Church have been killed by vampire wolves,” Nave says while bowing to the general in front of the crowds surrounding him.

“No, no, it’s quite appropriate for such important news to be given even when it is an inconvenience. Thank you, Sir Nave. Have the killers been caught?”

“Unfortunately, no. I chased after them but they kept ambushing me until I lost the assassin. I also don’t know who poisoned the leaders either. They’re probably gone as well.”

“That’s a shame. I’ll convene with the cardinals and other bishops to see what we can do. Don’t feel put down by what happened. I’m sure you did the best you could.”

“Thank you.”

Again, Nave isn’t allowed to be involved in an important meeting until a decision is made.

One of the new leaders says, “It has been decided that you are not worthy to be our guard due to your failure. As such you will be expunged from both the army and guards to live a life of penance in seclusion just as many others who have disgraced their honorable job through their failure.”

Knowing that he can’t get a worse sentence, Nave says, “You call it a failure, but how could’ve I prevented it? The room that the leaders met in was soundproof so that even beastmen with enhanced hearing could not listen in to it and the only reason I knew something happened was because a vampire wolf who knew the exact location of the room blew through the wall to finish those who didn’t ingest the poison. I also did my best in trying to catch up with the assassin despite the other wolves who threw themselves at me. My penance should be helping the investigation team find out who the traitors are among us. Do we know who was the cook and server who made the food and poured the drinks? What about the people who knew the exact location of the windowless meeting room and when it was happening? Have the wolves in the black armor been identified by the human skin they wear yet?”

“Enough!”

“Good leaders of the Church, Sir Nave has a point,” Zhuge says, “Let us talk amongst ourselves for a short while again to decide a different fate for him. Perhaps you were too hasty in your decision.”

“You were part of it as well.”

“I was one of the few trying to give me a lighter penance since he has a record of being a loyal servant of the Church and an honorable family. As a member of the original previous leaders, I am using my seniority to say that we should reconsider our decision.”

The leaders agree and then talk for a little while.

Once the meeting is done, they come out and Zhuge says, “I am sorry, Sir Nave, but the best sentence we can give you is that you join the final battle that will happen within a week, but you must join with some of the beastmen that abandoned your army and additional ones.”

“…I see…I guess I have no choice but to accept.”

“Again, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be. Thank you for lessening my sentence, Sir Zhuge. I’ll see what I can do.”

With his head down, Nave walks out of the city. Dark thoughts and temptations cloud his mind while he walks in the general direction of the town where he thinks one of his past soldiers went. It’s now nighttime and Nave rests underneath a tree in the chilly weather. After everything that’s happened, Nave takes his dagger and tries cutting his throat, but nothing happens as if he cut himself with a plastic toy. He then tries stabbing his chest and head to no effect before his guardian angel appears.

“Do not despair. We will-”

Nave interrupts his angel by saying, “No, I don’t care about finding anyone. I don’t care about anything anymore. I’m done trying to do good since I’m only rewarded with slaps and spit in my face. If God wants someone to suffer tragedies for their entire life for Him, He can find someone else. It’s not like he doesn’t have an entire Church of normal people, penitents, and other beastmen who are stronger than me and it’s not like they’ve all succeeded where I failed.”

“Nave…”

“Shut up. I don’t want to hear anything. Leave me alone and let me live in peace forgotten and alone. He’s been doing a good job at doing that anyway.”

In a fit of rage, Nave storms off to head in whatever direction he feels now he’s been pushed past his limit thanks to everything that’s happened to him throughout his life and today.