Chapter
1 – Pushed into Destiny
Nevar dreams about the day he lost
his family a memory that haunts him to this very day. He was seven at the time
and afraid of bringing home his bad test scores from school, so he wandered through
the town until he realized that he would get in even more trouble if he came
home late. By the time he went home, he saw some strange people enter the
house, which stopped him from going any further. He was always afraid of
talking to weird looking strangers, but this time, his instincts were correct
as these people hypnotize the rest of his family and exit the house with his
family in tow. Despite wanting to do something, he was frozen in his fear and didn’t
go anywhere near his house until his family was far in the distance.
Turning to look at the house, he
remembers the reports of what vampires do to their victims that they use in
their blasphemous sacraments. He sees the broken, bloodied, and desecrated bodies
of his family with his eyes focusing on the cut throat and torn out heart of
his infant brother. Seeing this is enough to make him fall down in tears and
not want to do anything about it.
“I’m useless. I couldn’t do anything
then and I can’t do anything now to save those who are suffering the same fate,”
he says to himself.
“Stop being so hard on yourself,” a
familiar and comforting voice says to him.
Nevar looks up to see his father looking
at him with a smile.
“Father…I’m not worthy to be called
your son. I can’t be the same hero you were,” Nevar admits.
“You will be. I know it. Don’t
doubt yourself and remember to trust God to help you in everything you do,” his
father says.
“I do trust God. I trust Him more
than myself.”
“As you should. Do that and you
will never fail.”
Nevar feels himself beginning to
wake up and he tries his best to will himself to stay in the dream.
“Wait, don’t let me wake up,
father! Tell me more! Grant me your intercession from your Heaven!”
“I will and I’ll never leave you. You
needn’t worry so much. You are my son after all.”
The young man calls out to his
father again as he wakes up. Even though he is disappointed that he is awake,
he puts aside his feelings to focus on his morning prayers. After his prayers
and getting dressed, he takes his family’s whip and heads out for training.
Nevar passes by several others that are his age that are practicing with
warrior priests and knights from the army teaching them. Many of his peers ignore
him while others take note.
“Why bother coming out if you don’t
fight?” one of them says as they pass by him.
“I…I’m training to,” Nevar answers.
“With the ‘skill’ that you’ve shown
on our assignments, I’m surprised that you train at all.”
The young knights walk away and
leave Nevar to sulk in his embarrassment. That is until his teacher comes to
him after overhearing the conversation.
“Do not worry about what they say.
They only want you to be able to defend yourself. If not, then I expect to see
them soon in the confessional,” his teacher says.
“Uncle Rinaldo! I’m ready for today’s
training, sir,” Nevar says as he follows his teacher to the training site.
“Are you? You look like you’re
letting what your peers said get to you.”
“No, it’s not that. At least not completely
that. I saw my father in a dream and was reminded of him and what the vampires
did to my family.”
“Then you received a message from
Heaven and your saintly father. I wish my brother would visit me in a dream
sometime. What did he say?”
“He reminded me to trust in God,
not to doubt myself, and that he’ll never leave me.”
“That’s great! Why does this
trouble you?”
“I wish the dream could’ve lasted
longer so I could be with him longer and so he could give me more of his wisdom.”
“Follow me and listen to what I
have to say then if it is wisdom that you want. Today, we’ll train outside the
noise of the city and judging eyes of both your and my peers.”
“Yes, uncle.”
Nevar and Rinaldo go out to a
homestead outside of the city. While looking at it from a distance, Nevar appreciates
looking at it from the outside and the surrounding area.
“Beautiful even from a distance.
You’ll never find a city like Rome anywhere else in the world,” Rinaldo says.
“Yes, she is though I can’t say the
same for sure since I’ve only been to one other city besides this one. Thank
you for bringing me out here, uncle. Despite the city’s loveliness, the change
of scenery is refreshing,” Nevar says.
“Your peers mock you for your
combat ability and cowardice in battle. Prove that isn’t true by fighting me
with all your strength.”
The two begin to fight and Nevar manages
to fight on even ground even as Nevar uses a whip and Rinaldo uses a sword and
shield.
“Good, good! Those friends of yours
don’t know what they’re talking about,” Rinaldo complements.
“They’re not my friends nor do I
fight the same way on assignments. Most of the time, I cower behind everyone
and only come out when absolutely needed.”
“That isn’t so bad.”
“What do you mean?”
“You come out when you’re needed.
What else can be asked of you?”
“I just want to do more like my
father.”
“What about like your uncle?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you, uncle.”
“Haha, you didn’t. Your father
wanted to be lots of things and he was. He brought honor to your family when it
had less than none by being an honorable knight of the Church. When we first
met on the battlefield, I thought he was an arrogant man who wanted nothing
more than glory and honor. Even after getting to know him better, he would
always say that he was a better fighter, but it was through fighting with him,
I saw the God loving man that he truly was.”
“Are you saying I should be in the
kind of battles that he was in?”
“No, not at all. Besides, our wars
were fought against heathens and heretics rather than monsters. I’m just saying
that you’re like him in the way that you’re there where you’re needed even when
others don’t want you. When your father came back as a vampire, he was bothered
by the fact that he came back in the way that he did and couldn’t save your mother
and siblings. In spite of that, he saved us from the powers of evil and came
back when he was needed, so what I’m also saying is that you never really know
the moments you are actually needed and when you are, you can accomplish great
things.”
“Thank you for your wisdom, uncle.
I’ll keep that in mind.”
Rinaldo spares with Nevar for a
time with breaks in between until the sun begins to set. At this time, Nevar
makes the two dinner as they enjoy the sky and each other’s company.
“I’m glad you’re becoming a fine
cook as well as a knight,” Rinaldo says.
“Thank you for all you’ve taught
me. I don’t know what I would do without you,” Nevar says with a gentle smile
on his face.
“It’s the least I can do. I just
pray that I can stay the man you look up to and better. Ha! After all this talk
about wanting to be more than what you are, you have me talking the same way.
Another thing you should learn is that God provides us with the skills and
resources necessary for the day’s work. Don’t worry about tomorrow because the
same loving God that gave you the gifts of today will do the same for you
tomorrow.”
“I’ll be sure to remember that as well
and the many blessings I’ve already been given.”
Nevar and Rinaldo go back to the barracks
to rest for the day. Because of today’s hard training, Nevar doesn’t bother
taking off his armor nor putting away his family’s whip and just falls on his
bed to immediately fall asleep. As he dreams, Nevar hears someone calling out
to him. He doesn’t know who this voice belongs to, but in his drowsiness, he
follows it since it sounds familiar to him. Following it outside of the barracks
to its source, Nevar looks around until he is directed by the voice to his
horse. Again, he looks around for the source of the voice and begins to finally
wake up.
“Wait, what am I doing here?” he
asks himself.
It is then that he sees two hooded
figures wandering around the area.
He asks them, “Hey, are you the
night guards? Have you seen anyone around here or am I going crazy?”
“That’s the son of Raven,” one of
the strangers whispers to the other.
“We should kill him and bring his
head back as a reward,” the other stranger whispers back.
“No, we should bring him back in
pieces or force him to be like us like how we did with his father. Maybe make
him into a serf. Perhaps, he will be different.”
“Perhaps, we should have our fun
with him first then go from there. Do you agree?”
“I agree. That is the better
option.”
The whispering of the two is barely
audible to Nevar, so he takes out his whip and shakily prepares for a fight.
“Get out of here you two! You don’t
want to mess with someone like me,” Nevar says in a failed attempt to intimidate
them.
“What can you do to us, boy?”
“You’re nothing like your father.
You can’t possibly do anything to us.”
The two strangers reveal themselves
to be vampires with hollow black eyes and skin as pale as the moon. This scares
Nevar into taking action and whipping off the arm of one of them as the vampire
narrowly manages to escape a quick death.
“You’ll pay for that,” the vampire says
before charging at Nevar.
Thanks to his training, Nevar
anticipates this and whips the vampire in half before it can reach him despite its inhuman speed. Following up his attack, Nevar whips the head off
the second vampire before it can react to what happened to the first. Despite this
display of skill that would impress anyone, Nevar stands frozen in fear unsure
of what to do next because he fears if there are any more vampires lurking in the darkness. It
is from this darkness that shadows leap out, but don’t attack Nevar. Instead,
after what feels like agonizing minutes of waiting, Nevar retreats back to the
barracks to report the vampire attack, however, explosions and the sounds of
fighting stop him from doing so.
All this sudden commotion scares
Nevar’s horse and by the time he takes his horse out of the stable, it runs off
while not listening to his instructions and hardly goes where he wants it to as
it tries to avoid the fighting. Nevar tries to make the most of this predicament
by killing whatever vampires and beastmen that he comes across while appearing
to look like a child on a horse. Eventually, his horse makes it outside of Rome
where the vampires are attacking from. They come out of portals that connect to
the place they’re coming from.
“That’s the son of Raven! Get him!”
one vampire says.
“Why here of all places?” Nevar
says as he still struggles to control his horse.
Because of all the vampires and
beastmen around him, Nevar focuses on defending himself. Even while doing this,
he can see an invisible force kill the enemies he can’t reach and just assumes
that a group of Rome’s defenders are fighting alongside him. His horse charges
through the enemy until it goes through the portal. This is where the horse finally
listens to Nevar’s instructions, but it is too late for him to go back through
the portal as it has closed. Wondering exactly where he is so that he can get
back home, Nevar looks around to see that he’s in front of what’s known as the
Tower of Blasphemy.
“Of all the places to end up. Why,
God, does it have to be here?” Nevar says as he begins to fear for his life.
This tower is home to most if not
all vampires in the world where the most powerful vampire lords meet to
coordinate their plans and make deals with one another. Its construction is otherworldly
as different bits of large castles are grafted to it, and yet, it manages to
stand with all its pieces set in place. At this moment of desperation for a way
out, an angel manifests in front of Nevar. Two swords float by its side along with
two eyes that each look into three directions at once. The angel’s golden wings
also float to its side with three bits of it floating downward like hanging
crystals. It doesn’t seem to have a face nor a body in its gold and black
cloak. Instead, only a mouth and hands folded in prayer can be seen.
“Oh, thanks be to God you’re here!
Please, holy angel, you must get me out of here,” Nevar says to it.
The angel’s head twists in confusion
in a way that a normal human head would break before it says. “Why would I do
that? It is I who brought you here because God needs you to be here.”
“Wait, was it your voice that I
heard calling me in the night?”
“Yes, and I was the one leading
your horse and defending you from the slaves of evil. I am your guardian angel.”
“My guardian angel? It’s an honor
to finally see you after talking to you so much, but can you tell me why God
wants me here?”
“Because you are to defeat the
vampires and save the world from their influence like your father did.”
“Me? I’m hardly one of the best
knights. Even if I was, I’m only one man and that castle contains armies. It’d
be better if I went back to Rome, helped them, and got their aid. We could also
use the help of my uncle!”
“Do not worry about them nor your
uncle. They will take care of themselves. You, on the other hand, have a task
and an enemy before you.”
“How can I possibly do this by
myself?”
“You are not alone. I am here with
you, your family and the saints in Heaven are interceding for you, the holy
souls that you offered your rosary for are praying for you. God got you here
and He will get you out. Are you beginning to lose your faith in Him?”
“No, not at all.”
“Then you must proceed with the
task at hand. Your destiny awaits you.”
Nevar swallows his fear before
looking at the tower that seems to reach past the clouds. He takes out his
whip, grips it, then swings it down as if throwing away his cowardice and walks
to the building hoping that God hasn’t abandoned him to a terrible fate.
