Venatores Noctis: Fading Virtue: Chapter 2 – New Purpose and People

Chapter 2 – New Purpose and People

As both Ivy and the woman walk through the city, Ivy hears the faint sound of crying infants.

“Do you hear crying infants?” Ivy asks.

“It’s faint. Do you think…” the woman says.

At the thought of the implication, Ivy runs to the source of the noise and hastily removes the rubble muffling it. She finds crying infants wrapped in the same light that her guardian angel had. Her heart flutters in joy while holding as many infants as she can and trying not to cry.

“Thanks be to God. It’s a miracle,” the woman says.

“It’s a miracle they haven’t been killed while their serf mothers and fathers did. This place used to be a place where infants were born for the sake of them being used as sacrifices or experimented on to later become serfs. Wait, if the infants here are okay, then the rest must be,” Ivy says.

People with cloaks and weapons approach the two with caution.

Ivy takes her whip out and then says, “Who are you?”

“Bernice?” a man says.

The man takes off his hood to reveal himself as someone that the woman recognizes. Seeing him causes Bernice to run and hug him.

“I’m so glad that you’re safe,” Bernice says to the man.

“And I am even more glad that you’re alive. It’s a miracle that you didn’t die or were enslaved when you went on your suicide mission.”

“How did you survive the city catching on fire and what are you doing out here?”

“The flames didn’t affect us even though they spread beneath the city and we’re here to see what happened and if it’s actually safe to live above ground. Since these infants are alive, I’m sure the others are saving the rest from the burned down facilities that produced them. How did you survive?”

“The flames didn’t affect us either and this Aurora’s guardian angel saved us from a collapsing castle. She also started the fire with her hands believe it or not.”

“Did she really?”

“I don’t even understand how I did it and the angel says that I’m supposed to burn the world and moon of sin. It’s ridiculous.”

“Well, if you wanted to save me and save these infants, then there must be a part of you that still yearns for justice and truth.”

“I didn’t want to see another person be corrupted against their will in front of me. I also can’t stand the sacrifice of infants, especially because-no, forget it.”

“Okay. Whatever the case is, we should get these infants to safety.”

“Right.”

With the man and his friend’s help, Bernice and Ivy take the infants down below the city where there are many like them. In this underground part of the city lies the Church of God. Many parts of it are decorated with crucifixes, statues of saints, images of the Blessed Mother, and other holy images.

“It’s a wonder that this place was never discovered,” Ivy says.

“That’s because the holy images we have here dull the senses of the vampires and gods and because our God protects us,” Bernice says.

“If you say so. I’ve seen plenty of your own captured, tortured, defiled, and maimed despite their constant pleading for their God’s help.”

“But God did answer my prayers and deliver me from the vampires and showed me His purpose for you. It’s true that God doesn’t seem to answer all our prayers, but that’s for a good reason beyond our understanding.”

“It’s the Aurora,” a citizen of the underground Church says.

“Isn’t their family traitorous?”

“They were traitorous to begin with even after they were considered heroes.”

“They even still use the whip that one of their ancestors used to whip the back of Christ as if it’s some honorable weapon.”

“Those legends about them saving our world are false.”

“Ignore them,” Bernice says.

“I know that. Where are you taking me anyway? Is your pope here?”

“No. I don’t even know if we have a current one. I’m taking you to a mystic who might be able to tell you how to fulfill God’s will for you.”

Even though she doesn’t know what a mystic is, Ivy lets herself be led to one that Bernice knows of. When she meets the mystic, she becomes even warier of him because of the man’s blindness. The mystic gets up as soon as Ivy enters the room and somehow walks in front of her despite his blindness.

“You’re Ivy Aurora. It’s an honor to meet you,” the man says.

“How did you know that? How can you even see?” Ivy says.

“I may not be able to see the physical reality, but my spiritual sight is second only to my fellow mystics. Give me your hands so that I may tell you what you want to know.”

Ivy allows the man to touch her hands out of curiosity.

“What do you see, blind man?”

“I can see a faint ember that is struggling to stay alive. This is the last thing keeping your soul alive that yearns to burn for justice.”

“It yearns to burn? Haha, something in my soul telling you what it wants to do is the most absurd thing I’ve heard today when I know it better than you do and there’s nothing in me that says that.”

“Oh, but it does. You just silence it even as it whispers to you, and because of what happened, it’s a whisper that you can no longer ignore. The ember was ignited when you saw innocent people tortured, die, and become corrupted.”

“That did make me upset, but-”

“But where you really wanted God, truth, and justice to be real was when you heard and witnessed the death of baptized infants especially the death of your child.”

Everyone who hears it looks at the mystic and Ivy.

“How do you know about my child?!”

“Your soul told me about it.”

“Well, it won’t tell you anything else!” Ivy tries to move away, but she feels that she’s paralyzed in place and can only move her shoulders. Her eyes then focus on her guardian angel who appears in her sight without warning and shows her that it is the one that is holding her. “What did you do to me?”

“I’m not doing anything. It’s your angel who wants you to realize your true nature so that you will repent and save your soul.”

“Why now when it’s let me be who I am? Why now when God let the vampires take over the world and enact their will on everyone?”

“I cannot say for sure. Perhaps we deserved it. Perhaps it is necessary so that a greater good might be born from it. The only thing that I can say for certain is that you are the one who will save us with your fire.”

“People keep saying I should use it, but I don’t even know how to!”

“You have an idea of how. Do the same thing as you did before. Give yourself over to God and you will be complete and who you are meant to be. Here, I will allow you to feel the same peace that you felt when God touched your soul and allowed your flames of righteous anger the ability to manifest.”

“I didn’t feel any peace…”

It is then that Ivy remembers the touch of God that happened for less than a second. This feeling is like that of resting after a day of work when everything is done or something close to the feeling of being in Heaven or even closer to the feeling of true love.

“There it is. Remember that feeling and you will truly become the Ivy Aurora that God made you to be. Forget it, and you will become like the vampire gods. Nothing but an empty vessel for demons.”

With that said, the mystic lets go of Ivy’s hands. She loses the feeling of peace and is back to feeling empty and craving physical pleasures, which she begins to hate. Ivy then leaves the mystic and goes to Bernice.

“That was amazing what the mystic told you. Now you know how to fulfill your God-given role,” Bernice excitingly says.

“Uh huh,” Ivy lukewarmly responds.

“I’m sorry about your child. If you need anyone to talk to-”

“I don’t want to talk about it to anyone.”

“Okay, okay.”

Before they have a chance to relax, they see that the people are beginning to pack up. Concerned about this, Bernice goes to one of the Church leaders to ask why this is.

“Most of us are afraid that the vampires that come here will annihilate us because of what they’ll find. Because of this, we’ve decided to move to another place,” the leader says.

“Why’s that? God has given us Constantinople to be our own?” Bernice says.

“It makes sense,” Ivy comments, “This city isn’t yours just because your God burned it and made it safe for you. The gods may just bring in an army to destroy you or worse when they learn of what happened, which I’m sure they already have.”

“And just because an Aurora is helping us doesn’t mean that this one will save the world now. Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate your help and trust that God has good things for us. I just don’t trust you too well because of what your family has done as of late.”

“Then this is where we part ways.”

“Hold on. I still know of your skills that we can put to use.”

“I don’t think holy people like you want my skills.”

“You know what I’m talking about. Your skills as a fighter and not a prostitute. We’ll pay you to keep us safe until we find a place we can live. It’s been decided by the council that you can have any reward for this within reason.”

“Oh? Why’s this?”

“We do not forget the good that your family has done and what you have done according to Bernice. The Auroras did stay faithful to the Church until the generations of Saint Claudius’ blessed children and grandchildren passed away.”

“I see. I accept.”

“Sir, I think we should do more than just pay her. She has the blessing from God to change the world,” Bernice says.

“If it comes to that, then by all means she can stay with us permanently. It’s just not something that we see happening in the near future.”

“Ivy…”

“Don’t worry about me, Bernice. I’ll be fine. Now, come on, and let’s help your people pack up. The gods will be on their way here before you know it.”

Bernice reluctantly accepts the reality of the situation and silently prays that Ivy stays with them. After packing up, the followers of God and Ivy load as much as they can on the horses and handmade carriages the Church has kept fed and hidden in the underground before heading out. Ivy sits on the rear carriage while other defenders sit on the outside carriages with their blessed weapons drawn and ready for a fight. It isn’t long before they get this fight as many beastmen and vampires come running their way. The defenders hardly manage to defend the carriages besides Ivy who can narrowly hold her own.

“Ivy!” Bernice says who is under attack.

“Come on, come on! Don’t you want to save your worshippers, God?” Ivy silently thinks.

She tries to remember the feeling to activate her flames until she starts to pray for a second, which lights up her whip. Her whip is also extended and able to release fire projectiles out at distant enemies that she uses to save Bernice and the other carriages.

“I knew you could do it!” Bernice says.

“Oh, please. I don’t even know what I did,” Ivy says.

Many more enemies approach them until not even Ivy’s upgraded whip cannot help them.

“Come on! Where’s that feeling?” Ivy thinks to herself.

Soon after, Bernice and those around her are overwhelmed and their horses are killed so that the carriages crash. This causes Ivy to panic to try to strengthen her flames.

“Come on, flames, activate already! You’ve already allowed so many innocents to die!”

“Watch out!” Ivy’s carriage driver says.

A group of beastmen and vampire serfs throw themselves at their carriage causing it to crash.

“You have to do something now or we’re all going to die or worse. Do what you did before,” Ivy silently says to God.

At her allowing God to act through her, Ivy’s strength is restored. She becomes like a fiery tornado that tears through the army until the gods activate her curse to bring her down. Ivy is able to resist her temptations only for a short while until she is consumed by them.

“Where’s that feeling? I can’t find it,” Ivy says to herself while trying to resist her curse.

The flames from her whip are gone along with her strength. Many of the worshippers of God are killed while few are cursed with the fate of whatever twisted desire the gods have for them.

“So, this is the famous Aurora. It appears that there’s more to her than her sexual proficiency and strength in battle,” one of the gods says as they approach her.

“I think we have our explanation as to how Constantinople burned down,” another says, “I say we don’t kill her and use her as a weapon to dominate the other gods.”

“I say we should. Her family and she have done great services for my family and friends in more than one way,” a third god says.

“You don’t think she’ll turn on us?”

“People like her, like us, only need to be satiated with pleasures of all kinds. Just look how happy she is now.”

“Oh, that’s right, but for now, let’s get her back to our castles. Let her pleasures overwhelm her until she falls unconscious. I don’t want to take any chances after what she did, but I also want her to have a taste of her future reward for serving us.”

“You are too generous, but I do want to see her lose herself in an overwhelming amount of pleasure. Let me see it!”

The pleasure inflicted on Ivy through her curse is increased until she falls unconscious. She is then taken with the rest of the worshippers of God to the combined castle of these vampire gods and a new horror that awaits them.

Venatores Noctis: Fading Virtue: Chapter 1 – Using a Spark for an Inferno

Chapter 1 – Using a Spark for an Inferno

Ivy sneaks behind a vampire god and wraps her family’s whip around his neck. Despite the metal-like spikes that come from the vampire’s neck, go through its face, and come out the top of its head like a crown, Ivy’s whip crushes it as if it were paper and makes the god bleed and suffocate.

“It’s time for you to die, monster,” Ivy says.

“Curses! To think it would end this way,” the god says as it struggles to free itself.

“You sealed your fate with your sins!”

“…still…to die at the hands of an Aurora is an honor. Let it be known that I was bested by a hunter from a legendary family-”

The two chuckle before beginning to laugh.

“What? Can’t keep up the act anymore?”

“It’s one of my favorites, but it does make me laugh. I appreciate the gift of your pleasing pain, Ivy.” The vampire god taps out but Ivy doesn’t stop strangling him. “Ivy?”

“What is it? I thought you enjoyed the pain.”

“Yes, its way of putting my life in danger is enticing since I rarely ever feel it, but it’s sad to say that our good time must end sooner or later. We can continue this again later once I recover.”

“Aww, but I’m just getting started.”

“Wha-what??

Seeing that Ivy seriously won’t release him, the god tries to break the whip around his neck, however, since it is a holy weapon, he only burns his hands as a result. He then uses his vampire god ability to activate the tattoos on Ivy’s eye, heart, and the one slightly below her waist. This causes her ecstasy which almost stops her, but she manages to narrowly persevere and behead the god. She then obsessively touches her tattoos as if wanting her curse to continuously feed her pleasure. Her sensations are quieted by another vampire god who enters the room and uses his abilities on her tattoos to calm her down.

“You’ll have the chance to experience an even greater pleasure now that you’re mine,” the god says.

“Don’t keep me waiting for long. You know what’ll happen if you do,” Ivy says before holding the god’s arm as if she is his wife.

To show his take over of the city, the serfs of the vampire god hang the decaying body of the god that Ivy killed from the balcony before the new vampire god gives a speech about his take over with Ivy at his side. Those who hear this gather gifts for their new ruler, especially supporters of the old ruler. On the other hand, those who are fearful of this sudden change of rule attempt to leave the city only to be ambushed and killed by supporters of the new rule. Ivy and her master indulge in the pleasures of their take over before going their separate ways to enjoy even more of their spoils given to them by their beastmen serfs.

“Congratulations on another successful takeover, Ivy. How long will you let this new ruler live?” a human woman serf asks.

“Depends how long he can entertain me,” Ivy answers.

“What about your other loyalties?”

“Those other gods can wait. The world is already theirs. It’s not like there’s any rush to replace one ruler with another.”

“I mean the Church.”

“Rome has long been overthrown and been driven underground so they’re no concern of mine. My family hasn’t been dedicated to the Church for a few generations now that you mention it. Why do you ask?”

“I heard about the history of your family and thought that part of you would still care for it.”

“As far as I know, the God that my family fought for has abandoned us to the darkness in a good way. We can be whoever we want and indulge in every pleasure imaginable until the day we die.”

“I wouldn’t say that God has abandoned us.”

“Have you looked outside at all? The sun never shines. Instead, a warm moon shines during the day and a cold moon shines during the night. This was a blessing given to us by the vampire gods who brought out our true nature through the spell that they call the Eternal Night. You should be enjoying this life rather than worrying about some dying Church and its long lost God. Are you a worshipper of this God? Are you from the Church?”

“Um…I’ve been in contact with people associated with it. It’s how I know what I know.”

“Everyone. Leave the room. Except you.” Every serf in the room leaves except for the one Ivy is talking to. “You don’t belong here, little lamb. Your loyalties are too easy to spot because of the way you talk. I’m sure that even the serfs could tell that you serve the Church. What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see if it was true that a descendent of the legendary vampire hunting family was under their spell rather than a willing slave, so I snuck my way here to get to you.”

“And you would break the curse that’s making me a slave to my sin?”

“I was going to try and risk my life so that something would be done about the vampires. Your family has saved the world from them before.”

“You’re in over your head and out of your mind. I don’t need saving, but you do. Leave now before the serfs tell the new ruler of this city that you’re here.”

“Why would he care that a nobody like me is here?”

“Because you’re a native but pure soul. At best, he’ll beat you to death with your own limbs and laugh as you scream and cry in agony. At worst, he’ll slowly corrupt you and turn you into a mindless serf or a plaything for his desires.”

“But your family and you-”

“Have been fighting for the vampire gods ever since the Eternal Night began. I’ve even been told that my family took part in making it happen.”

“I see that there’s still light in you since you want to save me. Why won’t you fight against the evils of the vampires?”

“What evil? I’m enjoying my life the way it is. Now, no more talking. Get out of here while I distract the god and tell your Church that if they’re going to get rid of any evil then they ought to stop giving up priests that baptize the babies the vampires use in their ritual to become the beings that they are.”

In a rush, Ivy pushes the woman to a secret exit and throws her out of it. She then runs to find the vampire god who is headed her way.

“I heard there was a servant of God with you. Where is she?” the vampire god says.

“Gone. Why do you have to concern yourself with her when you have me?” Ivy answers.

“Did you get rid of her?”

“I did because I know you’ll be giving her all your attention.” She kisses and embraces the god. “Give me all you would’ve given her and more. I crave it. You can even let the serfs watch. Make it a spectacle.”

Encouraged by his insatiable lust, the god agrees, tells the serfs that they can be involved, and takes Ivy to the public bedchamber where sex is a show and the serfs involved with it are nothing but playthings whose lives are expendable for the sake of pleasure. There, Ivy tries her best to play around and tease the god for as long as she can while fighting her own desire to give in. This happens for a time until he gets tired of the teasing and uses his abilities on her tattoos to weaken her resistance to the point where she gives in, however, at this same moment, the woman of the Church is brought in by serfs.

“We found her, your majesty!” the serf says as they drag in the woman who is bruised and in chains with her clothes torn.

“Wa-wait! You still haven’t satisfied me yet!” Ivy says desperately trying to save the woman.

“Two is better than one since I know you don’t like watching.”

“Stop it!”

“Oh, but I thought you liked this. Where’s your taste for all forms of exquisite pleasure?”

As the god says this, he intensifies Ivy’s curse, but she resists it. Flashes of infants dying in blasphemous baptisms and other women and men like her being cruelly killed and degraded fill her mind and ignites a dead part of her that wishes for justice.

For the first time in her life, she prays in her mind, “If you’re out there, God who this woman worships, save her. Save her by any means necessary. Pull out a miracle as you are said to do. You can even use me if you wish. Just don’t make any more of the innocent die. I beg of you.”

At her word, Ivy’s hands slowly begin to ignite in flames as she continues to scream while fighting her curse. Everyone in the room watches her in awe before the flames from her hands leap from her hands and spread to everyone and everything until the entire castle they are in catches fire. The god quickly turns to ash whereas the serfs burn to death at various speeds depending on the person’s soul. This flame quenches Ivy’s lust and wakes her up enough to grab the woman and take her out of the room. Looking out the window, she sees that her flames have enveloped the entire city.

Eventually, the damage done to the castle by her flames is enough to make it collapse, however, a mysterious light envelops them and cuts the falling debris to save them. When the dust settles, Ivy and the woman see that the castle has fallen to the ground around them. Every house and building in the city has also fallen and its citizens are all ash. The light that saved Ivy and the woman then manifests as an angel with four wings, four burned arms that hold fire, and a singular eye as a face.

“What kind of god are you?” Ivy asks it.

“I am no god. I am your guardian angel,” it says.

“Guardian angel?”

“You can see what the light is manifested as and what it says, and it’s your guardian angel?” the woman asks.

“That’s what it says.”

“Amazing. Every member of the Aurora family was said to be able to see and communicate with their guardian angel. It must be here to lead you to your God-given destiny.”

“My what? I don’t care for that. I only wanted to save you.”

“You wanted more,” the angel says, “Your heart yearned for justice and the small piece of your soul that was still pure was allowed to manifest itself as that small flame that burned this entire city and its sinful inhabitants to the ground. Follow the woman’s advice and you will be led to the true freedom and justice that you desire.”

“I don’t desire that. I just want my pleasures-”

“Don’t lie and regress back to your old self as you sit on the precipice of change because it will result in your damnation. Follow the woman and burn the world and moon of sin.”

With its final word, the angel disappears in a flash of light.

“What did your angel tell you to do?”

“It told me to follow you and burn the world and moon of sin.”

“Follow me? It’s an honor to be thought of as your guide. I can help you with that, but how are you going to burn the world and moon of sin?”

“No clue. I really don’t even know how I used that fire that manifested from my soul.”

“I see. We’ll figure it out. You still have your family’s whip with you, right?”

“I still got it.”

“Then we’ll be good for now. Follow me.”

“As if I have a better choice.”

Ivy follows the injured woman unsure of the future ahead of her but somehow feeling freer than ever before.

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After the institution of vampire hunting parties by his grandfather, Never, Claudius seeks to live up to his grandfather's legacy by finishing what he started. He seeks to destroy the Tower of Blasphemy that has sunk into the ground by himself no matter the cost but is everything that's hard to do and doing exactly what your heroes did always the correct decision?

Venatores Noctis: Selfless Self-Destruction: Chapter 3 – Results of Lost Hope

Chapter 3 – Results of Lost Hope

After his long travels, Claudius arrives at the site of the tower to find that an entrance to it jutting out of the ground is surrounded by beastmen and strange black skeleton vampires that have little to no skin on their bones set up in the battle ruined campsite that surrounds the site.

“You are welcome inside,” a beastman says.

Despite not being attacked by the beastmen, Claudius takes advantage of their passivity to kill them with three large swipes of his whip. He winches after the attack because of his injury from the vampire lord and remembers what the woman said before offering up the pain the penance and going down the stairs to enter the upside down tower. The stairs down are a crumbled mess with dirt slowly dripping down like an hourglass as if the structure will collapse if broken in the right place. Further down, Claudius enters the first room. This room contains ruined what must’ve been beautiful statues, paintings, furniture, and more. These ruined objects are being cleaned and fixed by serfs, and just like the beastmen on the surface, these ones don’t mind Claudius' presence.

One of them bows to Claudius then says, “Welcome to our castle. Please, do not mind our appearance and make yourself at home. Do you need first aid? We have many doctors that can help you.”

The beastman’s honest question about his health gives Claudius pause before he stabs it with the end of his whip to silently kill it. This method is the way by which Claudius slays every single serf and vampire in this castle with a few small fights that end in seconds here and there. Claudius does a thorough cleaning of this castle hoping to find a vampire lord or someone to tell him where the center of the tower is, but he doesn’t find any. It then occurs to him that he let his zealotry get to him and did not see the obvious opportunity.

“It wouldn’t be a sin to take advantage of their hospitality so I can find the center of the tower,” Claudius silently says to himself before realizing another thing. “Guardian angel, my guardian dear. My grandfather’s guardian angel led him through his trials to his fate, his wife, and the only serfs who could redeem themselves. Will you not show me the way as well?”

Waiting in silent prayer gives Claudius no answers so he assumes he is where he is meant to be and that his chosen course of action is correct. When he travels further down into the tower, he finds himself in another castle, but this is more like a small town. Every large room contains something different. Some are taverns, bakeries, and restaurants, while others are homes and even churches. To his surprise, the churches practice the same true Catholic faith that he does and there doesn’t appear to be any sign of sin or misdeeds, however, he is still uneased by the sight of the beastmen, skeletal vampires, and other vampires who go about their daily business as if they weren’t monsters living in a destroyed castle. Reconcentrating his efforts on his task, he goes up to a human serf who is selling clothes that he is making.

Claudius asks him, “Might you know where the lord of this castle is?”

“Dead and in the ground where he belongs. Were you hoping to kill him yourself?” the serf answers.

“I was.”

“Well, there’s nothing evil in this tower anymore, friend. The serfs have risen up in every castle in this tower, killed the lords, and now we live here in relative peace.”

“Relative?”

“Relative because fights will sometimes break out and the Corpus may lose themselves to their sinful ways, but I think we’re doing better than one would expect.”

“A Corpus? Those creatures of legend are here?”

“You’ve surely passed several by. There are no true vampires in this area. Not anymore.”

“I’ve been attacked by vampires in this area and my holy whip has killed them.”

“If you know the legends, then you know that the Corpus die when God allows them to and when their penance has been paid, so they can enter Heaven. This is a tragedy really. I assume that’s why you’re all beat up?”

“Yes, and it’s why I doubt that the Corpus are here.”

“I can’t help that and can only assure you that what the Corpus do is outside of their will and they helped us destroy the last of the lords. They even destroyed the blasphemous magic in here that allowed those who used it to teleport.”

“I thought Saint Nevar destroyed that when he destroyed the tower.”

“He did, but the power to make portals still existed within the tower since it all fell to the ground. Now, thanks to the serfs, that power is forever lost.”

“Why did the serfs rebel?”

“Because of Saint Nevar’s and Saint Josiah’s example. They inspired us to rebel.”

“Then why also did the serfs rebel against the Church?”

“We haven’t. It’s just that we’re rebelling against those in Church that take advantage of us and think of serfs as nothing more than irredeemable creatures, which is ironic because of the saints who were serfs and Saint Raven who was a Corpus.”

Finding no way to argue with the serf’s point, Claudius wonders what to say next for a few seconds.

“Who runs this mess of castles then and how is it still together?”

“The most powerful of serfs that led the assault on the lords. You’ll find them a few castles down. As for keeping it together, it probably has to do with the original magic that kept it together and maybe even the will of God since it’s so improbable that it’s still together.”

Hearing that it’s God’s will that this tower be together ignites Claudius’ anger since it sounds like blasphemy to him, but he holds his rage in a way that doesn’t show his rage on his face or body language. He then thanks the serf before moving down to visit the leaders of the serfs. On his way there, the two other castles he passes through are filled with similar scenes to the last with one castle having schools and libraries and the second having farms and bakeries. It is then that Claudius’ resolve wavers as a young child comes up to him and asks him if he needs a doctor and food since his condition is obvious to this child. This child is also part wolf, which shows Claudius that the serfs have been here long enough to reproduce. In his mind and the mind of some of the others in the Church, it is an abomination for beastmen to reproduce despite them still being considered men and having the same rights as men, assuming the place they’re living in isn’t biased against them.

“No, I’m fine,” Claudius says to the boy.

The boy doesn’t appear to believe him until he says, “Okay. Hey, how can I look as cool as you? Did you get that look by being a knight of the Church?”

For some reason, a beastman turns to look at Claudius at the hearing of this then runs away deeper into the tower. The beast’s suspicious behavior causes Claudius to chase after it until he finds himself at a dead end that happens to be a graveyard. Many gravestones litter this room with inscriptions that note some of these people as the ones that fought for the serfs’ freedom while others are noted as being victims of the vampires and even the Church. Seeing that there’s no way out of this room, Claudius feels out the walls and then the graves to try to find a possible hidden exit. The boy even more curious about Claudius than Claudius is about the beastman follows him into the graveyard to watch him until he becomes impatient and approaches him again.

He says, “What are you looking for, sir?”

“Nothing that should concern you,” Claudius answers.

“You look like you’re looking for secrets. Let me see if I can help. I found a chicken in a wall once. Don’t know why it was there, but I heard the lord that had the castle I found it in loved eating chickens so much that he had to hide his excess stock of it in all sorts of places.”

Ignoring what the boy said, Claudius thinks to himself about how to get him to leave.

“Hey, I found a secret staircase! Is this what you’re looking for.”

The spot where the boy finds the staircase is an ordinary grave that doesn’t stick out in any way. Seeing the staircase, Claudius moves passed the boy and down the stairs without even thinking to thank him. This secret reveals an area filled with the mangled bodies of serfs, humans, knights, and other seemingly normal folks. Despite this being a horrid sight, part of Claudius is sourly relieved that his suspicions that this tower still contains evil are correct. Going further in, he finds several beastmen, Corpus, and humans talking to each other.

“The Church has sent their soldiers to kill us! I told you they were going to!” one of them says.

“Maybe this is a misunderstanding. Did you send out your allies to scare them away again? You know that you’ll only be met with force and prolong this misunderstanding,” another beastman counters.

“That was for a good reason.”

“And what reason may that be? So you can continue with these experimentations that you inherited from the lords? I thought that we promised to move beyond this.”

“And I thought that you said I can continue them as a last resort because of the knowledge that would be lost.”

“That wasn’t me. That was my weakened side talking.”

“All the Corpus say the same thing, but it’s no matter. The lords here had an amazing last resort plan among many and we need to take advantage of it. We can’t let their research go to waste.”

“Their research that forces people to combine into a singular body? It’s an abomination.”

“You know how prideful the lords were and how they hated each other. They had a plan to separate themselves once they no longer needed to be combined. Granted, it was in its early stages, but you can see that I’ve been getting good results in undoing the beast modifications they put on people and those they have combined with others.”

“Most aren’t well in the mind after your experiments.”

“Okay, okay, but it’s something that we must make a decision on right now. If I explain any more details of the experiments, then we’ll be here all day. The Church’s soldiers have already killed the guards on the surface and those in the uppermost castle. Now, after everything that I’ve explained and the enemy banging at our gates, tell me that you agree with me.”

“If the Church sent their soldiers here, then we’d be seeing more than just one and there would be more chaos.”

“Tch. You dolt. You don’t understand what is happening!”

During this conversation, Claudius is unsure of how to act while listening in on what the enemy knows of him. His enemy is clear and in front of him, however, he is outnumbered and in no shape to take on so many at once, especially with the Corpus among them. The side who is on the side of the Corpus probably wouldn’t appreciate it if he killed the beast experimenter even though they are against each other, so that option is out of Claudius’ mind. Even so, looking around at all the scientific experimentations done on both the living and dead here that mocks God’s creation begs him to act sooner rather than later. Thinking that this was the same challenge that his grandfather faced, Claudius silently prays for bravery, strength, and bravery before leaping into action. He kills several beastmen with an efficient use of his whip and continues to kill multiple of them as he takes advantage of their surprise.

“I told you they’re here to kill us!” the experimenter says before working some kind of strange machinery. “I have no choice but to activate it as it is. You can thank me later.”

“No, wait!” the Corpus says to no avail.

A dark force comes out of the machine and shakes the very tower. It begins to suck in everything around it and seeing as how it is breaking apart the tower, Claudius assumes that it will destroy it and begins to leave. On his way out, he sees the boy that was following him get sucked in the direction of the dark force. At that moment, it was as if time was moving slowly. Claudius saw the boy’s terrified expression and saw him reaching out for him. A part of his soul tugs at him to go save the boy, but he thinks that living the life of a beastman is a curse, so he abandons him.

Even while leaving, Claudius doesn’t help anyone who is struggling not to get sucked in or fall victim to the collapsing tower. In fact, he pushes passed them and uses them to pull himself up while they fall. Eventually, Claudius makes his way out of the tower. He falls to the ground out of exhaustion and struggles to even stand. He then watches the staircase that goes into the tower slowly begin to sink down. Part of him remembers the boy and thinks about him again as he feels that he could’ve saved him.

“No, I couldn’t have been able to,” Claudius says to the rogue thought in his head.

As the staircase continues to sink, Claudius can see beastmen, Corpus, and other human serfs desperately trying to fit through the narrow hole that none can seem to fit through. The poor people beg Claudius to help them, but he just sits there thinking to himself that they deserve it.

“Pray for mercy because your death is near Repent of your sin of rebelling against the Church,” Claudius says to them.

Claudius can hear the people’s screams until he hears a loud crushing noise. He lays down before thanking God for his victory and his purpose being fulfilled. After getting up, he limps as he begins his way back home only to be stopped by the ground shaking again.

“I knew it wouldn’t be that easy,” Claudius says.

Ready for a fight, Claudius takes out his whip, however, when his enemy emerges from the ground where the tower was, he finds that his whip will probably not be enough. What emerges is an enormous beast that is a mile long and the size of a house along with some of the ruins of the tower. It has the body of a wolf, a half wolf, half fly face, the arm of an ape, a claw for another arm, and the wings of two different kinds of insect. The body is split in two by two different mouths and its lower half is that of a snake. Finally, hundreds, if not hundreds of thousands of humanoid figures can be seen writhing around in it appearing to try to break out and faint moans and screams emanating from its body.

“What kind of ungodly abomination are you?” Claudius says.

“We are the result of not leaving us alone and your persecution,” the creature says in many voices, “Whereas the Church was uncharitable to us, we have been charitable to you in letting you know this before you die.”

“God will not let me fail. To kill you is to achieve my destiny. Guardian angel, grandfather, please grant me strength.”

To Claudius’ dismay, his whip can hardly do any damage to the beast and is run over and seemingly killed by it soon after. In his half dead state, a light enters his mind to wake it up.

“I’m sorry, grandfather. I’ve failed you,” Claudius says.

“No, you haven’t. You still have a chance,” Nevar says.

“Is that you, grandfather?”

“I’m here for you, Claudius.”

“Hurry and grant me your intercession so I can live up to your legacy.”

“You don’t have to live up to my legacy in the way that you think.”

“What do you think?”

“What do you think I mean? Everyone has their own unique God-given purpose. My father achieved his after he died and I did by being pushed into it by God. You have a different one and I’m sorry to say that it’s changed because of your failure, but there’s still a chance to make amends.”

“What are you talking about? I haven’t done anything wrong.”

A second light enters his mind, which turns into his guardian angel.

The angel says, “It is true that you were meant to destroy the castle to finally seal away the magic and tainted scientific research within, but you were also meant to save the serfs within and bring them back to the Church and renew their faith in God.”

“What? Why couldn’t you tell me this before?”

“You were shown it and various people gave you good advice. You were shown the goodness of the serfs, given the advice to ask for help from the vampire hunters in your family’s hunting party, and told by a priest that certain people have certain roles in life and not everything harder to do is always right.”

“Then leave me to die so I may serve my penance in Purgatory or let me live in pain for as long as God will allow for the same reason.”

“That will not be necessary if you do what God actually wills. You have another chance if you follow my son’s example who is doing his part correctly,” Nevar says.

“My father? If you say so. I won’t let you down again, grandfather.”

Nevar smiles and then says, “I know you won’t, my grandson.”

Waking up from his injuries, Claudius finds himself with the other members of his family’s hunting party. His wounds are being dressed while others pray over him. They thank God that he’s awake, able to stand, and limp around. He makes his way to one of the leaders of the hunting party, or rather, they meet halfway after Claudius says that he wants to see him as his reason for not resting.

“You should be resting, sir,” the hunting party leader says.

“I will, but not yet. You must know of the massive abomination out there,” Claudius says.

“Oh, we know. It’s been out there for three days destroying towns, farms, and attacking cities on a rampage. We already have an army with siege weapons setting a trap for it. It’ll be dead before you know it especially since it bit off more than it can chew when it attacked Rome.”

“But what you don’t know is that it’s my fault that the beast is loose.”

“We figured you had to do something with it when we found your barely alive body near the ruins of the tower.”

“No, I could’ve stopped it from happening altogether. The beastmen were not allied with the vampires nor was there a single vampire among them. In fact, there were Corpus there. One of them got scared and activated a machine tainted by dark magic that sucked in both the dead and the living to create that creature. What that beastman did is indeed terrible, but it’s not like his fears were unfounded as I proved him right by carving a bloody path to him.”

“There’s no time to worry about that. I’m sure you have some painful penance in mind for yourself to make up for it. I suggest that you don’t do it. Do something simpler like praying that rosary the size of your arm for a while and promise God not to ever do something like that again.”

“I’ve already talked to my grandfather and my guardian angel who told me the error of my ways. I told them that I won’t let them down.”

“Then there’s nothing more to say. Let’s just keep this between ourselves and not tell anyone. Well, tell no one besides your confessor. We’ll get you back to your father soon. I’m sure he hasn’t stopped praying for your safety since you left.”

Sure enough, when Claudius returns to Rome damaged by the beast he unleashed, his father meets him halfway to hug him. Claudius tells his father what happened in secret and this doesn’t change his father’s attitude towards him.

“You aren’t mad at me?” Claudius asks.

“No, because I know that you’ll pick yourself up and become a better man. It was also good to hear that my father said to follow my example despite me being such a klutz. I can already see it in your eyes,” his father says.

“I’m…I’m sorry for everything I said about you. About calling you a coward and…for being such a foolish son.”

“Don’t worry about it. Come, you must get your rest. I’m getting a celebration ready for-Oh! I’ve spoiled the surprise! I’m sorry!”

“A party? For me?”

“Yes, to celebrate your coming back.”

“I…I guess I shouldn’t complain or say what is best for myself. I’ve been doing that for too long and dressing it as God’s will. Thank you for everything, father.”

Claudius embraces his father and looks forward to the future having learned from his mistakes. Once he gets better, he cleans up his appearance, and even though he is still a hunter, he vows to do what is right no matter how hard or easy it may be.

The End

Venatores Noctis: Selfless Self-Destruction: Chapter 2 – Pitiable Self-Made Kings

Chapter 2 – Pitiable Self-Made Kings

Along the way to his destination, Claudius feeds pieces of the bread that he has to the animals he comes across and then to a wandering blind priest who he eats the last of his bread with underneath a cloudy night sky.

“Thank you for the bread, young man. You are a gift from God,” the priest says.

“It’s the least I can do. Penitential priests like you inspired me to do the same as you,” Claudius says.

“Are you a blind penitential like me?”

“No, but I do fast and practice self-flagellation like you. I took up these practices to purify my soul and do penance for many on my quest.”

“What quest is this that can allow you to take on a similar penance to mine in addition to it?”

“The quest to live up to my grandfather, Nevar Aurora’s, legacy by slaying the vampires in the upside down Tower of Blasphemy. He destroyed the tower on the surface, but the lower tower is still beneath the earth and has been monitored by the Church for decades. Now, I go to destroy the lower tower as my grandfather destroyed the upper, especially since Rome hasn’t heard back from those that monitor the tower in some time and reports coming from this region tell us that the vampires' serfs are out kidnapping the poor.”

“This quest is great and too large for you to embrace similar penances to mine. You should fill yourself with food and stop whipping yourself so that you’re at full strength when you face the enemy.”

“I fill myself with whatever God gives me and deny excesses.”

“Are you sure you’re not denying yourself gifts that God has given you to help you along the way?”

“I’m sure of it because I follow your example.”

“My purpose is one that not many should follow just as your grandfather had his own purpose that only he could do. I’m assuming you prayed and meditated for a long time on your purpose like I do?”

“Of course.”

“Then I hope to God that you’re following God’s will rather than your own.”

“If I was following my own will, then things would’ve been easier.”

“Just know that not everything that’s harder to do is essentially holy and be open to correction. Keep your pride in check and remember that we all still sin and make mistakes. Even though I’m blind, God leads me to priests so that I may make my confession every week. Few blind priests that I know have the same blessing.”

“Then I am really glad that I got to speak and share a meal with you. It seems that very few people understand the value of penance the way we do. I find it hard to talk to anyone about it.”

“I’ll keep you in my prayers, brave knight. May God grant you victory over the evil powers in the world.”

Claudius continues forward guided by the copies of maps that he has of the area, which he took from a command center in Rome. The maps show him that there is supposed to be a town guarded by the Church’s soldiers in this area, however, all he finds is a ghost town with no signs of life to be seen. Dried blood can be found on some of the buildings along with slashes and places on the stalls and homes that seem to have been hit by a blunt object. Further in the town, Claudius finds numerous inhuman footprints that suggest that a beastman was recently here. Thunder roars in the distance as it begins to rain.

“Excuse me, sir? What are you looking for?” someone in a cloak says from behind him.

“I’m tracking whatever destroyed this checkpoint. Who are you?” Claudius says.

“Just a friend of one of the people who lived here. My friend forgot something here and I quickly came to pick it back up.”

“It’s dangerous to be out here alone, especially at night. Where are the knights of the Church?”

“They got orders to move closer to the site of the lower Tower of Blasphemy while the townspeople were ordered to live elsewhere. You should probably leave since you’re by yourself as well. It only gets more dangerous from here.”

“I know about the dangers, but I didn’t know about the soldiers nor the townspeople having to move and I would know about it being from the Aurora family.”

“An Aurora?” the stranger says in shock.

“Yes, and I’d like to know who you are and what happened here. There are many signs that this place was attacked particularly by beastmen. Their vampire masters can’t be too far from here. In fact, I think there might be one near us.”

In the blink of an eye, Claudius takes out his whip and whips the stranger’s legs off to reveal that they are a beastman or rather an apeman to be specific.

“You-you would cut a stranger’s legs off?”

“Even if you weren’t a monster, I’d punish a dishonest man.”

“Monster? It’s funny you say that-”

Claudius whips near the beastman’s face.

“No more nonsense. You will tell me what happened here plainly and simply.”

“We were tired of the monsters that were the leaders of the Church and their slaves and decided to do something about them. The serfs from the underground tower gave us that opportunity. Those who accept it were freed while those who didn’t were forced to be free, and believe it or not, I was one of the forced, and thank them for doing that. Is that simple enough for you?”

“Yes. I’ll allow you a minute to confess your sins to God before I put you out of your misery as a serf.”

“There’s no need to. I haven’t sinned and…I’m …already dead…”

The apeman appears to have died, but he springs to life and screams in pain when Claudius whips the beast’s last arm off.

“I’m no fool. I know that beastmen don’t die so easily. Be thankful that you have enough pain to offer up as your penance as you slowly die.”

Leaving the serf to his slow death, Claudius heads out on his horse to the next nearby checkpoint in the hopes of finding people who haven’t turned against the Church but is met by a band of vampires and serfs before he reaches it.

“You killed our messenger? How cruel are-” a vampire says before Claudius whips off their head.

He circles his whip around like a man-made tornado while tearing through every enemy that he comes across. This tactic works until his enemy start firing arrows at him one of which hits his horse in the head killing it. Using the trees as cover, Claudius runs from the arrows and incoming enemies until he reaches another checkpoint town that is like the last one. Running inside the house and taking shelter, he catches his breath and tries to think of an effective way to kill all the vampires and serfs. The thought of running away doesn’t even enter his mind since he thinks that no enemy of the Church should live.

“Hey,” a woman whispers as she exits a closet in the room.

In his heightened state, Claudius immediately whips and destroys the closet, but the woman manages to barely dodge his attack. The woman then shows herself clearly in the light with her hood off and arms up.

“Look, look! I’m purely human!” she says.

“How can I be sure of that?” Claudius asks ready to attack again.

“I solemnly swear to God! I didn’t accept the serf’s offer nor is my body altered in any way! Uh…look if you must.”

The woman reveals her body to Claudius who sees that she is clearly normal and then looks away.

“Okay, okay. You can cover yourself,” he says.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know how else to convince you.”

“Shush. The beasts are approaching.”

Going to the window to see what’s happening, the two peak outside to see what the beasts and vampires are doing. They begin to search the houses and break into them from below and by jumping into the buildings through the roof.

“If you are a decent man of faith, let’s talk and perhaps you can leave us alone,” a serf says, “We were forced to work jobs that underpaid us for jobs that worked us to the bone because they said they were protecting us from the inhabitants of an underground tower, but it was those inhabitants who gave us more food and more wealth than what the Church gave us. Those so-called beasts gave us freedom and returned us to the comfortably secluded lives that we had before the Church overexerted her power over us.”

“Damned fools,” Claudius says as he begins to get up.

“Wait, it’s too dangerous to do anything,” the woman says while bringing him back down.

Seeing that she’s right, Claudius begrudgingly sits back down.

Continuing on, the serf says, “Even those loyal to the Church agree that we’re in the right. In fact, most do since we were loyal to her, to begin with. All we ask is that you leave us alone.”

The serf motions for the others to come back to him and they follow his orders. To Claudius’ surprise, even the vampires retreat back.

“These beasts are telling a half truth,” the woman whispers, “They do want to be left alone and the Church did overwork us for very little compensation, but they also-”

“I don’t need to be convinced to act. I’m just looking for an opportunity,” Claudius points out.

This opportunity soon comes as the vampires and beasts let down their guard and walk away from the town.

“Why don’t you just let them go? We can use this opportunity to escape,” the woman says.

“They’re evil, sinful creatures that need to face justice and I am their executioner”, Claudius says before leaping into action and decapitating several beastmen with one sweep of his whip.

He then goes for the archers killing one after while dodging their arrows. The vampires and beastmen throw themselves at him in an attempt to overwhelm him with numbers, however, Claudius slashes and spins his whip around him in such a dangerous manner that the woman almost gets caught up in it and the fast movements of his whip act almost like an umbrella with holes in it that stops the rain from touching where it goes. Once the last enemy falls, Claudius looks around before exhaling. It is then that another vampire comes out, but this one has three living bodies attached to it. A female’s face to the vampire’s along with her body while one male body writhes on the vampire’s other side and another male resides on the vampire’s chest.

“You’ve killed my friends and those I was trusted to protect,” the vampire says.

“So what?” Claudius says as he immediately attacks the vampire.

This hybrid of beastman and vampire is quicker than the others. It dodges every one of Claudius’ attacks until it is able to close the distance, cut him twice with his claws, then throw him into the side of a house. Since he is used to pain, Claudius doesn’t let it phase him for long and counterattacks as he lets the vampire get close again although it leaps back into the air in fear as his attack is about to land.

“No, no! I won’t let you harm them!” the vampire says. It rubs the face of the suffering faces on its body. “This woman is my true love, this on my side is my father, and this on my chest is the first foe I beat in battle. They are all very precious to me. I had to sacrifice an infant to each just so we can be a singular vampire together.”

“You’re a monster whose blind to their suffering!”

“No, no I’m not! They’re alive and they’ve always supported me in everything I did!” Claudius continues his attack and tries to anticipate the vampire’s movements by attacking in places that he expects, and yet, the vampire still dodges his attacks even as he continues to talk. “I combined them with my body then became a vampire so that we can be together forever! You’re the heartless monster who won’t leave us alone!”

It is then that Claudius thinks of a way to throw the vampire off.

“Did they really agree to combine with you or did you force them?”

“I-I-I it was their decision. Kind of. They said…but I know they always wanted to be with me. They said it themselves!”

“But did they want to be with you in that way? When’s the last time you looked at their faces or are you too afraid to look at their horrified expressions?”

“Yes-no-sort of! I-I-I-”

Claudius’ words get the vampire to slip up allowing him to wrap his whip around the vampire’s throat.

“You’re nothing more than a pathetic creature. You’re no lover to be treasured, no son to be proud of, and no worthy foe to be conquered.”

“St-stop! You’re hurting my wife!”

“Cease living already and go to Hell where you won’t see the people you claim to love.”

To end the fight, Claudius uses all his strength to break the neck of the vampire killing it and freeing the people who were trapped in its body. Though the fight is over and the rain stops, he waits, kneels, and listens for any more possible dangers.

“That was amazing! You killed-woah!” the woman says before again almost being whipped by Claudius. “Stop that!”

“Stop putting yourself in danger.”

“We’re not in danger anymore. Any other serfs or vampires will probably run away now that you killed the lord of this area.”

“That was a lord? It was pathetic.”

“It also looks like it beat you up.”

“Regardless, I’m surprised the knights here couldn’t handle it.”

“It’s probably because they didn’t think to insult him since we knew him from before, but I’m sure you don’t want to hear his story.”

“It’s unimportant and will be forgotten about by God anyway.”

“How did you make that whip of yours so powerful? I thought holy and blessed weapons are only effective against vampires.”

“That’s because this is no ordinary whip. This is the same whip that whipped the back of Christ and has been in my family, the Auroras, for generations. I’ve made it even stronger by wrapping it around a blessed chain and bits of the cross Christ was crucified on to add to its already awesome power.”

“Hold on, so if you’re an Aurora then, why are you out here by yourself?”

“My grandfather faced the vampires alone, so I will face them by myself as well.”

“Don’t you have any backup? You’re part of a royal vampire hunting family after all.”

“No, though they shouldn’t be too far behind me since I told them that I would leave and achieve my God-given purpose. If you see them on your way out of here, you should slow them down.”

“What are you talking about? You can’t continue on by yourself. Are you crazy?”

“Are you? If they interfere with the will of God, then who knows what calamity could happen because of their sin.”

“This insane challenge of facing the vampires by yourself can’t possibly be the will of God.”

“My grandfather achieved it and he was said to struggle with cowardice. If you think this is crazy, then find the approaching force and get them to move faster. They wouldn’t want to miss me prove them wrong.”

Claudius walks away in the direction of the tower leaving the woman stunned by his stubbornness and resolve.