Venatores Noctis: Bastard Inheritor: Chapter 4 – Under Paid, Little Appreciation, Still Blessed

Chapter 4 – Under Paid, Little Appreciation, Still Blessed

As the beastmen enter the city, the citizens of the city are taken aback by their number and all the types of beastmen entering it, especially the ones that have the appearance of pests, insects, and some of which are Corpus. This large force scares many including the Church’s guards and army who hold their weapons at the ready as if anticipating some attack. Word of their arrival reaches the leaders of the Church before they reach the capital building and the leaders go to meet them.

“Stop right there! What do you think you’re doing marching down the streets with that army?” one of the leaders says.

“It’s what you told me to bring. I have new recruits plus my old soldiers who will fight in the final battle against the vampires,” Nave says.

“Yes, but-”

“But what? I think it’s obvious that our participation in this historic event is God's will.”

“God’s will?! God wouldn’t want insectmen, ratmen, lizardmen, walking corpses, and the like to fight for Him. They’re all wretched sinners and so are their cursed spawn,” another leader says.

“We may all be sinners, but so are you and yours, and how can you say that it isn’t God’s will that we serve Him when no human on earth is without sin. We even have some Corpus in our ranks, people who somehow became vampires and are in a state of grace so that every action of theirs is a result of God’s direct control and permissive will? In addition, this large force was gathered with time to spare, train, and gather more men to add to it. Does that not seem like a miracle to you?”

“It’s all rather impressive,” Zhuge says while clapping.

“What’s more is that we are willing to fight in this battle with no expectations of receiving our just dues. Instead, we fight because it is right!” Nave’s army cheers out. “We fight because we are called to by our God!” The army cheers out again. “And we will claim victory even if it comes at the cost of our deaths!” Again, the army cheers, but even louder.

The surrounding crowds become mixed in their reactions. Some think the beastmen are truly willing to give their lives for God and are thus actually good or still wary because of their bias against them. While this is happening, the leaders talk amongst themselves.

Zhuge approaches Nave and says, “It really is a miracle that you managed to do this. Even I had my doubts that you would accomplish it.”

“Trust me when I say that I doubted it more than you did,” Nave admits.

It is then that the army and crowds begin to quiet as the pope finally makes it to the scene.

“What? Can’t I join in on the fun?” the pope asks.

“Your excellency,” Nave says as he bows down with his army, Zhuge, the leaders, and the crowds around them.

“I’m glad you’re back from your assignment, Nave. I was hoping you’d join us in the battle so I can give you a job offer.”

“What will it be?”

“I’d like you and your beastmen to be my personal guard in Rome. We need soldiers with enhanced senses and strength like you to defend the Church from our next greatest threat. Do you know what that might be?”

“The wolves.”

“Correct. The worst enemy is the one that used to be a friend and still pretends to be even as they stab you in the back.”

“My soldiers and I have been relentlessly attacked by them as I was gathering them. It goes without saying that we should weed out the traitors as soon as we can.”

“And I trust that the son of a great strategist who already was doing that already has a plan for this?”

“We do.”

“Good, then I charge you with accomplishing as much as you can of this while also training your soldiers for the battle ahead of us. After the final battle against the vampires, we will divert all our attention to the wolves.”

“As you wish, your excellency.”

Some of the leaders of the Church disagree with the pope’s decision and try to change his mind, but the supporters of Nave and his army push back and silence their complaints. After a few days of training and gathering more recruits, the Church’s armies meet the vampire’s armies at the vampire’s last castle, which is more like a city because of how far it stretches and how many castles that comprise it. The many castles have different designs and crests on them and are separated by walls that group the castles together implying that the castles in the inner circle belong to the most important vampires. On the outskirts of the castle are ruins that are said to have belonged to a sinful city whose name is lost to time.

Before the battle properly begins, Nave tells one of his senior soldiers, “Be wary of any wolves that may strike us while we’re busy.”

“We should enact the same plan that your father did,” his friend says.

“No, we shouldn’t at least not until you know for sure that they’re here.”

“Why?”

“Because the pope and many other spiritual leaders are here giving their prayers and penance for our success.”

“But the pope has already given his permission to find the wolves and you’ve already read the reports.”

“They’re unconfirmed and just rumors. I mean, can you possibly believe the rumor that the pope is a wolf when he’s given us his permission to smoke them out? You have permission to keep a close eye on our leaders and protect the pope. Just don’t act unless you think it’s absolutely necessary, so I am, in a way, permitting you to use the same plan as my father’s. I only ask that you show restraint.”

“But why?”

“Because even though my father’s plan worked out, it was also controversial and didn’t help the negative image people had of the beastmen since they saw us what we deemed right without any permission other than our own. We have a chance to completely clear our image thanks to the role the pope gave us. Trust me on this.”

“Okay, fine.”

The final battle against the vampires then begins with the Church surrounding the castles and firing their catapults at them. Meanwhile, the vampires send their flying serfs and lower vampires out to sacrifice themselves to stop the catapults, however, the flaming rocks sent by the catapults are blessed and the catapults are defended by archers and other soldiers, so the serfs and lower vampires do very little to stall the catapults. In addition, the vampire devils are sent out to cause mental disruptions to the Church’s soldiers in the area, but thanks to the prayers of the pope and spiritual leaders, this disruption is lessened. Seeing as how they can do nothing else, the vampires send out their army to clash with the Church’s. Both sides push against each other and the battle seems to go nowhere with neither side gaining any ground at this point in time. Meanwhile, Nave has found his way into the castle thanks to a hidden entrance that his scouts found before the battle. Some of his other beastmen take the other secret entrances and clear it of the vampires and their serfs who are trying to flank the Church’s soldiers from behind.

Inside the castle walls, Nave finds himself inside layer one out of three. Thankfully, the catapults have broken the walls in front of him so that he can enter the second layer of the castle. He sneaks through the shadows and sees some vampires and serfs moving to the third innermost layer with blessed weapons in their hands. Following these suspicious people leads Nave to a secret entrance to the inner layer and center of the entire castle. There, the vampires and their serfs encounter others like them.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t your class be out on the front lines?” one of the vampires asks.

“I have better things to do than that such as taking back the throne that my family once had. You can either join me or fall by my blade,” the other vampire answers.

Lower and middle class vampires join forces or fight among themselves outside the main castle while some take advantage of this to make their way in with no one knowing that Nave has made his way in as well. While the vampires and their servants are busy with their civil war, Nave finds his soldiers in the castle with him.

“Glad you made it here. It looks like the scouts were right about the vampires wanting an excuse to kill each other were true,” Nave says.

“They always want an excuse to steal power from one another. It’s just in their sinful nature,” a beastman says.

“Looks like we have our work cut out for us then. Clean out this castle, free any prisoners you find, and kill any stragglers from the in-fighting. I’ll take out the vampire gods and high lords by myself or rather with my guardian angel.”

“Are you sure?”

“I can handle them and hey, maybe my ancestors in Heaven will help out like they have before.”

“Okay. We’ll do as you command, sir.”

Nave makes his way up the sky high castle as stealthy as possible. He kills every enemy that he comes across and frees the few slaves that he finds. Further up, he begins to feel the influence of the vampire gods who whisper tempting thoughts into his mind.

“Why did you come up with this plan by yourself? Who are you trying to impress?” a voice asks.

“I thought you fought without thinking about a reward.”

“Why risk your life this way?”

“We can give you the love you desire.”

“Abandon those who have abandoned you.”

“Your life will get no easier after this-”

It is then that Nave’s guardian angel appears and kills several of the vampire gods to bring them out of the shadows where they were.

“Good timing as always,” Nave says. More vampire gods converge on Nave’s location. They come from the walls, ceiling, and lower floors. “I’m not saying that we can’t take them, but is back up coming?”

As if to answer him, more vampire gods are killed by two other lights that then appear next to him. These lights form into Nave’s parents. His mother, Loretta, appears with her golden hair, fierce green eyes, and clothed in a golden dress while his father, Evan, still has his bestial appearance, white skin, jet black hair, dark green eyes, and white as snow skin with patches of beige and brown bits.

“Mother! Father! You’re here,” Nave says in surprise.

“We’ve always been watching over you,” Evan says.

“Never forget that. Let’s sort this trash out, son,” Loretta says before heading into the fight.

With his family and guardian angel, Nave kills the vampire gods and high lords of the castle. Together, they blow through the castle going up and down it, and are so effective at cleaning house that they take some of the kills of Nave’s soldiers.

“I told you I had this,” Nave says to his soldier before continuing the fight and jumping through the hole in the ceiling that he came through.

“Yeah, but you don’t have to be such a show off about it,” his soldier says.

The battle is won shortly after and the other vampires and their serfs who sought to take the innermost castle for themselves are disposed of as well. Nave’s soldiers bring the slaves they freed to the Church’s army who have just broken into the walls.

“Can you stay a little while longer?” Nave says to his parents.

“We can’t, but we’ll be listening and interceding for you,” Evan says as he disappears.

“Don’t lose hope. I love you,” Loretta says as she disappears as well.

Nave sighs and then looks at the sky. It changes as the veil of the night put up by the vampires to enhance their power is lifted and the noon sun shines through it.

One of Nave’s soldiers runs to him and says, “Sir! You have to get back to camp!”

“What is it? Wolves?”

“Yes!”

Running back to camp, Nave finds out that sympathizers of the beastmen have been killed including the pope. Among the dead and dying, are Nave’s soldiers one of which is still alive.

He grips her hand as she dies and says, “I’m so sorry! I should’ve-”

“You didn’t do anything wrong…”

Even though the girl dies, Nave still grips her hand and shakes it as if trying to bring her back to life. It turns out that there were wolves in the area, but there were also normal humans who worked with the wolves that wanted to make sure that the beastmen’s status stays the way it is. These traitors that are still alive are taken into custody. Despite what the beastmen did, the leaders of the Church punish them because they went through with the plan inspired by Nave’s father and cut some of the people in the camps with blessed weapons, which they say forced the hands of the wolves into action. Their army is dissolved and their authority to investigate the wolves in the Church is taken away from them, however, their supporters lighten their sentence by allowing them to go without any other punishment. They aren’t given any recognition in the celebration over the final victory nor any help in burying their dead. As a result of all this, Nave secludes himself in a dark place in a part of the city that’s mostly inhabited by beastman after coming home from the battle. He stares at a dagger that isn’t his own as suicidal thoughts renter his head.

“Sir!” one of Nave’s soldiers says.

A large crowd of beastmen and Nave’s surviving soldiers finds and surround him.

“What is it? Go and celebrate however you can. Don’t mind me,” Nave says while hiding the dagger.

“What do you mean? We still have traitors to bring to justice.”

“We don’t have the authority to legitimately do so.”

“So what?”

“So, it’s going to be incredibly difficult to find them all and if the authorities find out what we’re doing, then the beastmen will look even worse.”

“Again, I ask so what? We still have a duty to God to fulfill even if the so called leaders of the Church won’t allow us to do it. Besides, do you have anything better to do? Is sulking in your sorrow really the best thing to do right now?”

“Okay, okay. Let’s get to work.”

Throughout the next few months, the beastmen work together with their sympathizers to root out the wolves from within the Church. They question the human allies of the wolves and follow the trail of the wolves to the location of each one of them. Eventually, the wolves are killed one by one or group by group unbeknownst to the average citizen. Even the higher ranking members of the Church, law enforcement, and military are completely unaware of what is happening. Sometimes, Nave’s father's tactic is enacted in secret so that groups of people were checked by being cut with blessed weapons to see if any were wolves.

One day, the location of the traitor who killed the leaders of the Church when Nave was guarding them and who also killed the pope that supported the beastman is discovered. His name is not known nor his motives but knowing that getting rid of him will greatly help the beastmen, Nave decides to personally kill him. He finds the traitor with his other wolves meeting in a secluded area underneath a church. Without wanting to waste any time, Nave kills the group of wolves with his guardian angel, which makes this a quick and easy victory. Curious about the main traitor’s identity, Nave moves the man’s cloak aside to see that the traitor was Zhuge. Now of all times, he wished that he stayed his blade, but then he thinks that he would’ve hesitated if he knew this beforehand leading to Zhuge getting away again.

Because of the decrease in wolves and their influence, more sympathy grows for the beastmen even though their heroic actions are only spread through rumors. Nave, feeling unsatisfied by everything and the slow grind towards any small real change, goes to a place in his hometown where beastmen and humans live in relative harmony. He sits underneath a tree and looks up at the noon sun.

 

“My role here is done. There’s nothing else for me to do,” he says to himself.

A legless beastman sees Nave and approaches him as she walks to him on two hands. She wears a large white shirt with the ends tied up where her legs used to be so that she’s covered at the bottom, has two cat ears, two human ears, one arm covered in fur that has a hand with the claws of a cat, and cat-like eyes but no tail.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“No, I’m not,” Nave bluntly answers.

“How can I help you?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think you can.”

“I can try my best. What’s your name?”

“Nave.”

“Oh, you’re that famous general. My name is Rowan.” Rowan sits next to Nave and looks intently at him. “I know that look in your eyes. You’ve given up on life, haven’t you?”

“It’s not the first time. I’ll get over it.”

“You don’t sound too hopeful.”

“Frankly, I’m not, but what else am I supposed to do?”

“You should be somewhat at peace and relax, maybe even celebrate. I heard that you got rid of a lot of vampire wolves within the Church. Is that true?”

“It is but don’t tell anyone I told you. It’s meant to be a secret.”

“Okay. Still, it’s a good deed to feel good about, isn’t it?”

“Sure, but…”

“But?”

“But I thought more would happen because of it. I feel that the event should’ve been grander, lead to the beastmen slowly but surely getting the respect we deserve, and answers as to the motives of the traitors and why they betrayed us all. All that’s happened as a result of our actions is that we’re kind of getting more respect, but everything still seems the same as if nothing happened.”

“I understand and get it, but it was still all worth it, wasn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that it was still worth it because you’re doing the right thing no matter the reward. Doing what God wants you to do is always worth it even if you aren’t immediately or ever rewarded in this life because it’s the right thing to do and because God loves us. Isn’t that right?”

“It is, but just saying that doesn’t make all the suffering feel like it was worth it.”

“Then I’ll help you.”

“And again, I’ll say that I don’t think you can.”

“Do you have anyone to talk to about how you feel?”

“Not really.”

“Then I’ll be that person and encourage you to keep going. How does that sound?”

“I mean, okay, I guess, but I don’t think you should. Most people who I know either die or disappear.”

“Do you regret the time you spent with those people?”

“No.”

“Then let’s make the most of our time together.”

“If you say so.”

“Oh, cheer up already.” Rowan hugs Nave, which makes him feel warm and his spirits somewhat lifted. “There. Do you feel better now?”

“A bit.”

“You better because my friends say my hugs make everyone feel better.”

Through Rowan’s hug, Nave is reminded of the little things that keep him going.

“Actually, I feel a lot better. Thank you, Rowan. What you said reminded me of something I needed to hear again.”

Nave lifts her up into his arms as he hugs her as well.

“You’re welcome, but you don’t need to carry me. People will think we’re a couple.”

“Well, since you’re coming with me and you have no legs, I thought it would be very gentleman-like of me to carry you.”

“That’s very sweet of you. I accept it.”

“How would you like me to take you around the city? I can leap around it and show the highest heights.”

“That would be amazing!”

“Let’s go then.”

Nave leaps into the air with Rowan in his arms and is happy that God has given him a gift and another reason to live.

 

The End

Venatores Noctis: Bastard Inheritor: Chapter 3 – More Human than a Sinner

Chapter 3 – More Human than a Sinner

On the way to where Nave’s ex-soldiers might be, he and his beastmen are ambushed by vampire wolves, and not just any wolves, feral wolves that attack like real wolves rather than the manipulators that they typically act as. Some are injured during the fight, but they manage to make it through it without any casualties.

“Those vampire wolves were strange. I’ve never seen a feral one like that before. Do you know about them, Nave?” one of the beastmen says.

“They’re rare and used as if they were attack dogs by the normal vampires and vampire wolves. As far as I know, they’re feral because they’ve sinned too much. It is also said that their sin mutates their body, which is why their limbs and body seemed to be different sizes to one another as if certain parts of their body shrunk or were extended by some supernatural means.”

“Well, at least it’s a comforting thought that all vampire wolves will eventually become feral since they have to sin to use their wolf form.”

“But then someone has to deal with their feral form.”

“Speaking about that, who do you think sent them after us?”

“It doesn’t matter as far as I know,” a beastman says, “Normal vampires, vampire wolves. It’s all the same and we’ll defeat them both!”

Upon hearing this, the beastmen cheer to uplift their spirits much to Nave’s comfort and nostalgia for having such spirited soldiers. Eventually, Nave and his soldiers come to a ruined settlement on the mountain they are on with no signs of life in the area and many signs of a past conflict.

“They said they’d be here, sir?” a beastman asks Nave.

“It’s one of the places they said they’d be. Search the area for any survivors.”

The beastmen search the settlement with Nave who goes through several houses and buildings.

“This place has been picked clean and nothing’s been left behind,” Nave notes, “There aren’t even any corpses or pieces of rotting flesh left.”

After looking through a few buildings and moving aside everything he can, he finds one place with a rug hiding a door. Nave gets his soldiers so they can go through the hidden door together and into a series of caves that goes down into the mountain.

While traveling down the dark series of caves, the beastmen who can see in the dark and those who can smell poisonous traps safely guides the group. They almost open a few false doors that led to traps, however, the beastmen that can hear the traps being set off save the group before the door opens. The group does get to a door that isn’t trapped and carefully goes through it. On the other side, they find a dark room with pillars of stone that almost appear as if they were handcrafted to hold up this part of the mountain. As they make their way through the room, the beastmen that can hear the subtlest of noises and see into the dark alert the rest of the group of people moving in the room.

“We mean you no harm and come in peace. I’m Nave Meridies. Some that are with you know me,” Nave says.

“Nave! It’s really you. Lower your weapons, guys. This one is a friend,” a beastman says.

More beastmen come out of the darkness and introduce themselves to Nave and his soldiers. After their introductions, they are led deeper into the mountain where the beastmen have set up a home for themselves. Little homes and stores are made out of the stone of the mountain, pieces of wood, and rugged clothe. Beastmen go in and out of secret entrances of the mountain to bring supplies, food, water, and new beastmen to be introduced to new friends and a home. While Nave’s troops and the other beastmen talk to one another, Nave spots the flag of his army that his father made. The flag has a cross designed in the form of the word IHS with thorns surrounding it.

“I hope you know that we didn’t mean to show you any disrespect. We were trying to show the leaders of the Church that they couldn’t take advantage of us anymore,” a former soldier of Nave says.

“I know that. It’s just good seeing my father’s flag to remind me of what he and my mother fought so hard for and what they endured.”

“Really? You need the reminder? Aren’t you able to talk to your saintly ancestors that are in Heaven?”

“It’s only when God allows and yes, I needed a reminder. I didn’t come out here to join you. I left the city because I gave up on everything and-”

“You’re going to fight the last battle against the vampires then the wolves?” a beastman asks one of Nave’s soldiers.

“We are and we’re going to win with Nave leading us into battle, and when we win, the Church will have to respect us and give us what we want.”

Excitement begins to build among the beastmen who hear and overhear the conversation with many of them approaching Nave to join his army.

“Is this true?” a former soldier asks Nave.

With all this commotion around him, Nave slams the table and says, “Quiet! Shut up, all of you!” Once everyone has quieted down, Nave continues, “It’s true some of the Church may respect us and reward us for our deeds accordingly, but that is not why we fight. Look at my father’s flag and the thorns that surround the IHS. That is a reminder of the crown of thorns that Christ wore and reminds us that He died and suffered even for those who spat at Him, mocked Him, and would not repent. We should be following that example and not think about the rewards or how we will be treated after. This is why we fight. This is why we live and will do what’s right no matter the cost or the rewards. I no longer will be so shallow as to think of only myself because I will live and die for my God who is truth and love itself. Now, who’s with me?”

The beastmen cry out and volunteer to fight and those who abandoned Nave and those who recently joined renew their vows to fight for God and for him.

“There’s the inspiring Nave I know,” his former and now retuning more solid says.

Gathering up their blessed weapons, the beastmen prepare for war, however, their scouts report, “The vampire wolves have surrounded the mountain. Our traps have slowed them down, but they will eventually figure out a way around them.”

“I’m surprised they would send so many after us. I guess the traitors in the Church fear the force we can gather that much.”

“I’m surprised you even trapped every inch of those caves in the first place since this is supposed to be a safe haven for beastmen.”

“It is a safe haven for beastmen since only beastmen can avoid the traps with no problem.”

“But what about those who aren’t beastmen who are seeking shelter?”

“We have scouts watching the traps, so it wouldn’t be a problem to save them, but that’s enough of that since we’re abandoning this location. Come on, we have some traitors to punish. It’ll just be like old times.”

“Right, just like old times or less than a week ago.”

“Specifics, specifics.”

Together, Nave and his beastmen attack the wolves with every advantage they have by using the last of their traps and knowledge of the caves to catch the wolves by surprise. By the end of the battle between beasts, the beastmen come out of it victoriously with very few injuries on their side. The beastmen try to take some of the wolves alive for questioning, however, the wolves kill themselves with a blessed dagger they have so they wouldn’t be forced to talk.

“This is a pain. That was our best bet at getting a hint about the other traitors,” Nave says.

“Well, looks like we’ll have to find out the old fashioned way,” a friend of Nave says.

“And that would be?”

“Do the same thing your father did and just force out the traitors. We’ll give small cuts with blessed weapons to people. If they bleed profusely, they’ll be exposed. If not, they’ll only be scratched.”

“I was thinking about using my father’s strategy but didn’t want it to come to that. I wanted to get rid of the traitors through more peaceful means.”

“But even your father knew that even the simplest of plans were sometimes the best.”

“That plan was actually inspired by my mother’s straightforward strategies. They both learned something important from one another. Did I ever tell you that she was inspired by his strategies and made up her own by making my father marry her on the spot and threatening to cry until he accepted the proposal?”

“No, you never told me! You must tell me more.”

“I’ll tell you more on the way back, but for now, that’s the plan. We’ll aid the Church in the final battle against the vampires while rooting out the traitors as everyone is focused on the battle. After that, we focus on the traitors and celebrate by ourselves because the leaders will most assuredly not approve of our course of actions.”

“So what? It’s the right thing to do.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m still hoping they’ll give us a better option. Maybe it’ll be better as a last resort now that I’m thinking about it.”

“You know it’s the only option we have. We’ll need a more than a miracle to get anything better.”

Knowing that this is true, Nave says nothing more and gathers together his beastmen before heading back home with his newly reformed army of beastmen.

Venatores Noctis: Bastard Inheritor: Chapter 2 – Willfully Down and Out

Chapter 2 – Willfully Down and Out

There are very few settlements in the world that are neither allied with the Church nor the vampires. These places are filled with beastmen, the faithful who have been disillusioned, and others who wish to be left alone. As a result of their being on neither side, they are taken over by either side or completely wiped out if viewed as a threat. The one that Nave finds himself in seems to be a fair and humble place where people work hard day in and out to survive off their small farms and through trade with wandering merchants. With a few pieces of gold that he has on him, Nave buys some fruit, water, and finds a quiet place under a tree to rest. He eats while watching people pass by and act as if he isn’t really there, which he doesn’t mind.

“I can work with this,” Nave says to himself before he closes his eyes to rest.

Seemingly no time passes until something wakes Nave up from his sleep. He overhears a tax collector coming to collect their share for the upkeep of the community. The specifics of the conversation are willingly blocked out by Nave who wishes to not be involved in it and assumes that the trouble to due to the poor nature of this kind of living. To his relief, the situation ends and nothing else happens. More time passes before something else wakes Nave up.

Soldiers and messengers of the Church come to offer aid and ask the leaders of the settlement if they will join their home with theirs. A debate starts among them with the soldiers of the Church walking around in the town since they can do nothing to add to the conversation and are only there to escort and protect the messengers.

One of the soldiers sees Nave, approaches him, and then asks, “Aren’t you Nave Meridies, the leader of the serf army?”

“It’s the beastmen army,” Nave corrects.

“Serf, beastman. It's all the same as far as I'm concerned. What are you doing here?”

“Nothing.”

“Keep it that way.”

Ignoring the soldier, Nave tries to rest his eyes for longer, however, this rest is short as a bestial child wakes him up.

“Huh? What do you want?”

“Aren’t you Nave Meridies? The wolves are trying to take over the town. Can’t you help us?” the child asks Nave.

“I probably can, but I won’t.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because it’s not worth it.”

“But aren’t you a great leader and humble servant of God?”

“I’m less than nothing as far as I know.”

“No, you’re not! You’re a hero to many beastmen and normal people!”

“Listen, if you want something to be done, here, do it yourself. It’s what I told my soldiers.”

Nave gives the boy his dagger.

“What? But I’m too scared to do anything!”

“Then run away or don’t do anything like I am.”

“I can’t do that. My family and friends are in danger.”

“If you have those, you’re a thousand times more blessed than you think. I don’t have the luxury of having such basic blessings. Maybe you’re meant to take over for me.”

“I don’t know. I’m scared. Are you sure you can’t do anything?”

“I’m sure I won’t do anything. If you want to do something, do it soon. Indecisiveness makes things worse.”

“Okay…Okay, I’ll do something! Pray for me.”

“My prayers mean nothing to God. Just be sure not to get too far away from me since my dagger will come back to me if you do.”

“Okay, okay.”

Closing his eyes again, Nave sleeps for a short while before a loud thud on the ground wakes him up to the sight of the bestial boy’s dead body being thrown in front of him by a vampire wolf dressed in the armor of a soldier of the Church. Seeing the boy’s lifeless body triggers something within Nave that makes him want to act especially when he sees the tears in the boy’s dead eyes, his cut throat, and bloody chest which makes it apparent that he was killed violently to make an example of him.

Still, Nave says as nonchalantly as he can, “Can I help you, sir?”

“This boy had your weapon. Care you explain how that happened?” the wolf says.

“Children can be reckless. What do you want me to say? I’m not responsible for what he did.”

The wolf looks at Nave funny along with the others. Nave’s manners give off the idea that he won’t do anything, however, a feeling within Nave keeps pushing him to do something. It doesn’t help that the boy’s body won’t stop appearing in his vision even when he looks away from him as if the boy is still asking Nave for his help. Seeing that he’s not doing anything the wolves continue subjugating the townspeople through force.

“You serfs ought to join us, the true worshippers of God. Through your service, you will erase your sin of serving the vampires and ascend from your lesser nature. By sacrificing your baptized infants for God and becoming like us, you will gain you instant redemption and a sure ticket into Heaven. Resisting our will is a grave sin against God and is punishable by death,” a wolf says.

In the chaos of the wolves and beastmen fighting each other, Nave still tries to sleep and ignore what’s going on until his eyes seemingly open by themselves to see a bestial child crying as he is being held by the throat and taken away from his parents by a wolf for their blasphemous baptism for those who wish to be like them.

“That kid is more blessed than I. I only get to see my parents as spirits and even that rarely happens,” Nave focuses on.

The jealously that blinds Nave is lifted when the wolf gets its sword to cut the infant. This event forces him to get up and toss his dagger into the head of the wolf killing it and allowing the parents to take their child. Everyone is now focused on Nave who gets up and materializes his dagger back into his hand so he can fight. He manages to take down three more wolves before he feels overwhelmed by the other five who swarm him. That is until his guardian angel appears and kills them for him.

“It really is an Aurora,” one of the beastmen says.

“It’s Nave Meridies!”

“Our hero!”

“Tch,” Nave says while wiping the blood off his dagger, “I’m no hero. The corpse of the boy right there is proof. He’s dead because I wouldn’t help.”

This truth makes the beastmen hesitant to say anything else until another brings up, “But you still saved us and that’s what matters.”

“Get the Church to recompensate us for allowing this to happen to us. We are in their territory after all,” another beastman says.

“They won’t do anything for you not just because you’re beastmen or because you chose to live outside of their rule, but also because I have no sway over their decisions. Right now, they’ve kicked me out because I failed to protect the leaders from the wolves within their walls and the only way I can go back is if I reform the beastman army to fight in the final battle against the vampires that’ll happen within a week.”

A beastman steps forward and says, “Then I’ll fight with you. They’ll have to care about us if we help them win this historic battle.”

“Trust me when I say they won’t give you much if anything. It’s why I’m here and why what’s left of my army has abandoned it, but maybe we can… never mind.”

“What is it?”

“I was thinking about getting rid of the threat of the wolves within the Church, but-”

“We’ll do that then for nothing more than getting rid of that scum from the Church if they won’t reward us. I heard the wolves are rich anyway so we can take our spoils from them as our payment.”

Many of the beastmen agree with the virtuousness of this reason and the potential rewards of the secondary reason. They gather their blessed weapons and kneel before Nave to join his army and Nave feels that he has no choice but to accept their service. Afterward, they cheer and get ready to leave while talking of using their eventual victory to grandstand against the Church and possibly using it to get some respect.

Nave turns to his guardian angel and says, “I see how it is. God is making me move through a sense of duty rather than trying to comfort me in my pain first before getting me back to work, but I understand. I did sin against Him by saying what I said and I know I’m not worth comforting because of this life of suffering He’s making me endure for whatever plan He has.”

“You will find peace and comfort in this life.”

“Just not as much as I want or think I need. I know that.”

“You do have these people behind you now.”

“More people who will look up to me who I will eventually lose or disappoint or both. I know I shouldn’t say that and I’m sorry. I’m also sorry for what I said earlier and how I still feel. Well, since God isn’t giving me a break, I guess it’s time to get back to work. Just make sure my prayers don’t fall on deaf…make sure they reach Him.”

“They will.”

“And thank you for continuing to stay by me.”

Nave’s guardian angel embraces him before disappearing in a golden light. Tears almost form in Nave’s eyes, but he rubs his eyes before they can. The beastmen that can join Nave do so while those who can’t bury their dead and begin repairs done to their settlement by the wolves. With only a handful of beastmen behind him, Nave leads them to where he thinks his ex-soldiers might be. A dim sense of hope fills him as he marches with people like him. A sense that he hopes won’t leave him again.

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.