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.

Venatores Noctis: Selfless Self-Destruction: Chapter 1 – A Legacy to Live Up to

Chapter 1 – A Legacy to Live Up to

A lone man in a black cloak stops at a town on his way to his destination.

“Can you spare any food or water?” he asks in various ways to the townspeople he comes across.

Everyone who sees him is wary of the man since he doesn’t show his face and because he has pale skin like that of a vampire. His cloak is stained with dirt and blood, and he stinks of sweat. It doesn’t help that the vampires have recently taken their fair share of the infants, priests, and young for their blasphemous sacraments and to make more serfs. A nearby scream attracts the attention of the lone man who runs to find out what the reason behind it is. He finds a crowd gathered around a vampire that’s holding a bloody infant.

“I’ve ripped this infant from his mother’s womb because you would not pay your due tithe to us. Let this be your final lesson or else it will happen again and it will only get worse from there,” the vampire says with the crying twitching infant held in the air like a trophy.

It is then the lone man takes off his cloak, jumps into the air, and slices the vampire in two at the torse with his whip before catching the infant, wrapping him in his cloak, and giving him to a relative. Now that his cloak is off, the townspeople can clearly see who this lone man is.

“It’s Claudius Aurora of the Aurora vampire hunting family!” a townsperson says.

Most people in the crowd are glad to see him except for another band of vampire hunters that approach him.

“I didn’t expect the son of a coward to be out here by himself,” one of the hunters says.

“I’d hit you in the face, but I don’t want to stain my hands with the blood of a vile sinner who would insult my father,” Claudius responds in kind.

Claudius passes by the hunters.

“If your father was on the field rather than comfortable in the political sphere then we would actually respect him,” another hunter says.

“Ignore him. Our job is done here,” yet another says.

“Our job is done? He took our job.”

“They’ll be another. I say that we follow him and return the favor he did for us.”

The words of the hunter are ignored as Claudius is on his way out of the town.

He is stopped by a townsperson that says, “We didn’t know it was you asking for food and water, so here’s some. We have more if this isn’t enough.”

“No, as it said, if you do not help the least, you do not help the Lord. This town deserved to be tormented by the vampires,” Claudius coldly says while taking the food and water and throwing them on the ground.

The townsperson recoils in fear with the others who hear what Claudius has said. Meanwhile, Claudius’ stomach growls. He offers up the pain of his hunger and thirst before continuing on. As he travels to his next destination, he asks a traveling merchant for food and water to which the merchant gives it even though Claudius can’t pay for it. With a drooling mouth, Claudius almost devours the bread from the hands of the merchant, but he stops himself, thanks God for the bread and water, and then calmy eats and drinks.

“Haven’t you eaten anything, boy?” the merchant asks.

“No, not since the last daily mass I attended,” Claudius says.

“I mean food like meat, vegetables, and non-consecrated bread.”

“I haven’t since I left Rome.”

“Rome? That’s a week’s journey from here. You’ve gone this long without food or water?”

“It’s been a three day journey thanks to the kindness of strangers.”

“How can you survive like that?”

“By the gifts of God and strangers. I’ve drunk from rivers and lakes and eaten the leftover pieces of bread from those who could offer it.”

“Why are you putting yourself through this? I mean have you taken a look at yourself in a while?  Are you some kind of warrior penitential monk?”

“No, I have just taken many penances on my quest so that I may pay for my sins, the sins of the world, and for the Holy Souls in Purgatory along the way. These scars that you see on me are self-inflicted such as my bruised and bloodied knees from intense praying and mediation. I tattooed and cut the cross and monogram of Our Lord on my chest both as penance and as a sign of who I’ve given my soul to. This hundred decade rosary on my right arm is here for me always pray to the Blessed Mother, and these bandage on my face is meant to conceal my identity so people won’t treat me better because of my upbringing.”

“Who are you exactly?”

“Claudius Aurora.”

“Oh, Aurora. I’ve heard that your father and his band of vampire hunters have really helped the allies of the Church and more. Why aren’t you back in Rome with him where it’s much safer and more comfortable?”

“Because I must live up to my grandfather’s legacy. It’s right that I should be since I'm his grandson. He always said that I would do great things and become even better than he was when he was alive on Earth. I’m not going to let him down.” Claudius falls to his knees and looks towards the sky. “Grandfather Nevar, look down upon me with favor, and please intercede for me in Heaven.”

After parting ways, Claudius sees a party of vampires and their serfs making their way toward the town he was in. Because of how they treated him, he decides to ignore it. A ray of light shines on him as an angel appears in front of him, his guardian angel. This divine being manifests itself as a being with a cloak made of thorny vines, four wings and four whips that float independently of the body, and four eyes with no mouth that reside in the dark hood.

It says, “Be merciful, Claudius. There are repentant souls in the town now because of your actions. They are now worthy of having their punishment lifted from them for the time being.”

“Is that so? A harsher punishment could further prevent them from being uncharitable to strangers,” Claudius says.

“The vampires will not take kindly to one of their own being killed and the people that they spare will become their serfs. This town won’t last a day.”

“Becoming a serf is a horrible fate. Okay, you’ve convinced me. I’ll go.”

Meanwhile, the vampire hunting group from before eagerly awaits the approaching vampires and sets up a trap for them. The archers perch themselves on the roofs while the warriors and assassins lurk in the shadows or act as live bait. This trap works in taking out a vampire and some of the serfs, however, the vampires have brought their best since they heard that a member of the Aurora family is headed this way and the hunters are soon killed. Each of them is killed in brutal ways with some being beaten to death with their own limbs. A survivor is left alive and forced to crawl to the approaching Claudius with his arm being the only limb he has to pull him forward. The townspeople fearfully hide in their homes and pray that Claudius is successful.

“Please…help. I don’t want to die,” the dying hunter says.

Looking down at him, Claudius says, “Vampire hunting is a job, not a lucrative career choice because it will one day end forever. I hope you know that now. There’s no saving your life, so use the shameful state you are in as penance and hopefully, God will save your soul. Perhaps you won’t even go to Purgatory.”

After leaving the hunter to their fate, Claudius boldly approaches the vampires and readies his whip for the fight. The vampires who are hungry for a glorious victory of taking the head of an Aurora leap into action and are swiftly killed by Claudius. He whips them in half then sighs at the lack of challenge. It is then that the other vampires use a pincer attack on him and try to attack him one after the other in an unpredictable pattern. Still, Claudius is able to dodge and kill each vampire thanks to his training. When the dust settles, the townspeople come out of hiding and cheer.

“You have seen the fruits of faith and will of God shown through me. Go and sin no more,” Claudius says before heading off.

It is then that a townsperson offers him a horse and satchel of bread, which he reluctantly accepts because of the silent whispers of his guardian angel. He then crosses himself in thanks for the gifts and heads out while silently praying his rosary.

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Nevar has a lot to live up to since his father saved humanity from the threat of the vampires so long ago, but now, he is forced into his destiny as a series of events puts him in front of the Tower of Blasphemy, a tower constructed of many castles where the most powerful vampire lords reside. Will he fulfill his God-given purpose in life or let his fear overcome him?

Venatores Noctis: Unlikely Foundations: Chapter 4 – Deaths and Lives of Our Own Making

Fanart of Nevar by @ArtistsSouthern (on Twitter)

Chapter 4 – Deaths and Lives of Our Own Making

As Nevar and Vanina continue upward, they come across dead serfs with their bodies completely destroyed as if they were killed by a sadist.

“What happened here?” Nevar says.

He continues forward before he is pushed back by his angel. A trap is activated as spikes come from the rug underneath him before the trap automatically hides itself.

“You have to be more careful!” Vanina says while clinging on to one of Nevar’s arms.

“Okay, okay I will!”

Despite Nevar’s heart feeling like it’s going to burst out of his chest he feels out where he should go. There are many places on the ground that activate the traps, but there are certain ones spread apart that just appear to be solid ground.

“I’ll go first again,” Nevar says.

Nevar then nervously steps on one of the supposedly safe places on the floor only for it to activate a fire trap on the wall that he manages to duck under just in time.

“What are we supposed to do if every part of the ground activates a trap?” Nevar says.

Vanina thinks about a possible solution while feeling the floor and looking around for possible clues. Nothing in particular separates this castle from the others besides the color of the wallpaper, the paintings, and various other decorations, but the paintings that depict ballroom dancers catch Vanina’s attention.

“I think we have to move like the dancers,” Vanina says.

“What makes you think that?” Nevar wonders.

“Just look at how the leg of one of the dancers lines up with the places in the floor that doesn’t activate a trap and the ones ahead of it have the same dancers looking like they continue the dance.”

Okay, but we’re still going to have to guess where the next one is. Perhaps we should just find another castle to approach the center from. Maybe there’s even a secret way around the trap.”

“But the apeman and the other serfs are already attacking the center and we may not get there in time. Besides, your angel and my barriers could protect us if we make a mistake.”

“I wouldn’t test them to protect us if we’re doing something that we shouldn’t.”

“I have a good feeling that we should. There has to be a better way.”

“I see that there are claw marks on the walls and ceiling so the serfs could’ve been crawling on them, but they could have traps on them as well and we can’t crawl on them like they can. What better option is there?”

“…alright. I guess there’s nothing better. God, please protect us in this risky plan.”

Nevar takes Vanina’s hand and the two begin to move in the same way as the paintings of the dancers depict. They move in the direction that the dancers seem to be moving in while hesitating only for a few seconds to make sure the next part of the floor isn’t a trap. This works surprisingly well as the two begin to smile and actually enjoy dancing with one another. Even though they have to guess at certain points because of the blood on the paintings, they manage to get far until the point where this is no other painting.

Seeing this ahead of them, Nevar points this out then says, “What do we do?”

“Uh. Umm. Take a guess?” Vanina answers.

“Tch. Why couldn’t these vampires complete this collection of paintings of all things?”

When the two get to the place where there is no painting, Nevar hesitates to move as he feels out the floor whereas Vanina wants to just guess.

“Hold on, we still have a second-”

“The second is up!”

Vanina moves them forward while silently praying. A barrier then forms around them as dozens of spikes hit it. The spikes then recede and their barrier dissipates once they are safe.

“That was too close,” Nevar says while continuously shaking and trying to shake off his fear.

“You think? I’m just glad to be alive,” Vanina says.

After shaking off what just happened, the two go through a door. For the rest of the way up, there are no traps. There aren’t even lords or serfs that get in their way as most are already dead. Going further up shows the two the answer as to why. Opportunistic vampire lords and serfs, and normal serfs rebel against their masters either for power, to escape, or to join the rebellion against the lords of the tower. Taking advantage of this, Nevar and Vanina head closer to the center to find that the previous masters of the tower have been overthrown by more powerful lords. The apeman priest and his serfs fight against these lords.

In an attempt to help, Nevar and Vanina join the fight. Numbers are the serf’s greatest weapon as the lords squash and kill them as if they were swatting flies. Some of the serfs attempt to go for the living heart in the center of the room that’s keeping the tower together, however, the lords are too quick and kill these serfs. Seeing that the heart is more than a decoration and the primary target, Nevar shoots his shot at attacking it and manages to hit it several times. Unbeknownst to him and some of the others, castles start falling off the tower because of this and bury themselves in the ground, and crash into the castles below the ground. A vampire lord notices what Nevar is doing and goes after him for an instant kill but is intercepted by the apeman priest who takes the lethal blow for him.

“Why?” Nevar says without really knowing what to say.

The priest’s guardian angel then manifests and decimates the vampire lord that struck him into bits.

“I can’t let a soul as brilliant as yours die so soon when you have so much to do. As for me, I guess God favored me more than I thought. My doubts were my worst sin, but it looks like I don’t need to worry about that anymore. I’ll see you later, son of Raven. Oh, and my name is Josiah since you wanted to know so badly.”

Life then leaves the priest’s body as his guardian angel goes to him and carries his soul upward until both disappear.

“Nevar!” Vanina says as she runs to his aid.

Her barrier of swords protects them since the rest of the serfs are dead. Five lords are left who fiercely attack them both in an attempt to protect the tower and gain the glory of being the one to kill them.

“Thank you, Vanina! I’ll finish this!”

Thanks to Vanina’s help, Nevar can continuously damage the heart of the tower. Even as a lord slips through the barrier, Nevar does not let this scare him and uses his finishing blow to whip both the lord and the heart in half. With the heart destroyed, the lords of the tower begin to take whatever valuables they have if they haven’t already begun to get up and leave. In this chaos, Nevar and Vanina run as fast as they can as the castles crumble into the ground. Vanina’s barrier protects them from the debris as they continue in whatever direction seems correct. What they may know is that the castle they’re in is falling to the ground as the others in the air are. As the castle falls, the room around them rotates, but they still manage not to be thrown around. They go from castle to destroyed castle in their desperate and blind attempt to survive.

Eventually, the castle they’re in falls to the ground. The cushions of the overly expensive couches break their fall along with Vanina’s barrier. They continue upward as they use the rubble as makeshift stairs until they break out of the castle and onto solid ground just as the rest of the castle sinks into the ground.

“Talk about a fall from grace. I thought we would never stop falling,” Nevar says.

“At least we’re finally safe,” Vanina says.

“Yeah, why don’t you turn off your barrier then?”

“The Blessed Mother and God have more control over it than I do so there must be a reason-”

A vampire lord leaps out from the dirt and punches Vanina a fair distance away. Thankfully, she isn’t too hurt because of her barrier’s protection, but now she is too far away from Nevar to help him. Nevar tries to hit the lord with his whip as the vampire dodges his strikes until he’s able to get some distance between him.

“Oh my. You are your father’s son. It’s not too late to make up for what you did. Become a vampire, help me dig up the remains of the tower, and we will rule the world as we once did,” the lord says.

“Who even are you?” Nevar asks.

“Someone who will be the master of this world.”

“I didn’t even see you defending the heart of the tower. How important can you really be?”

“More important than you think, boy. While those fools were defending a tower that was already killing itself, I was attending to my own strength. Behold the fruits of my labor.”

The area around the vampire lord’s hands darkens like a cloud forming in the sky before he raises them to the sky to darken it. Nevar’s and Vanina’s heads begin to hear the temptations of demons as they feel their strength begin to leave them.

“So, what’s it going to be?” the lord asks.

“I’ll never accept your offer,” Nevar says while attempting to attack the lord.

Now that his strength is lessened, Nevar is even slower at trying to attack the lord and misses more than usual. It doesn’t help that this entire ordeal has pushed him to its limits either.

“Give up. I can tell you’re afraid of me.”

“That’s right. I am afraid of you. I was afraid of nearly everything in that tower, and yet, I kept fighting because I was more afraid of sinning against God and letting the people who love me down.”

“So, it’s fear that drives you. How pathetic.”

“No, it’s not fear that drives me. It’s my love of God, family, and friends that push me forward when I would rather just cower in fear and do nothing.”

“That’s even worse. You know what? I don’t think I need you anymore.”

“Then try to take my life.”

Nevar lets go of his fears while whipping the ground to signify him letting it go. The lord then charges at him until his arms suddenly come off because of Nevar’s guardian angel. This stops the lord right in front of Nevar who he is now visibly afraid of.

He then leaps back and says, “You think this is over?! It isn’t. I mutated my body before I became a lord. Any second now, I will-”

Multiple arms replace the arms that the lord lost. The mutations don’t stop there as the lord loses both legs and gains four arms in their place. In addition, he gains two more arms that sprout out of his shoulder and one more that comes out of his mouth. He then charges at Nevar confident of his victory. Meanwhile, Nevar is calm and confident as his senses are boosted beyond that of a vampire by his faith in God. Because of this, he perceives everything in slow motion up until the point where he strikes the vampire. After the first strike, the lord is too afraid to move since his pride was shattered along with a majority of his body with that one strike. Nevar then unleashes a fury of whips to finish off the lord. The darkness disappears when the lord dies as the night sky gives way to the morning sun.

Vanina finally reaches Nevar and the two embrace and kiss one another. Horses approach them from a distance led by Rinaldo who almost falls on his face while dismounting his horse to embrace Nevar as well.

“Thanks be to God infinity times infinity that you’re alive!” Rinaldo says with held back tears flowing from his eyes.

“I’m glad you’re safe too, uncle,” Nevar says.

“Did you destroy the entire tower by yourself?”

“No, I did it with the help of my wife to be, Vanina along with a saintly priest, named Josiah, my guardian angel, and the intercession of Heaven.”

“Of course, of course! There was never a doubt in my mind that you would accomplish great things.”

“Really? There were plenty of doubts in my mind.”

The three of them laugh before heading back to Rome. Since the remainder of the tower and lower tower are still beneath the ground, the site of it becomes heavily guarded by the best soldiers of the Church just in case more vampires spring out from it, but what they don’t know is that the vampires and their serfs are too busy weeding out the weak among them before they’ll make their move on the surface. Nevar is celebrated as a hero and is married to Vanina shortly after. Josiah and the many serfs that helped Nevar are given graves at a graveyard where many saints are buried. Meanwhile, many vampires and their serfs still plague the lands during the night.

This makes Nevar dedicate his family to the eradication of them and all that is evil on the earth as he says to the excitement of a zealous crowd, “From this day forth, my family and I will hunt the night! May God’s will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.”

The End

Venatores Noctis: Unlikely Foundations: Chapter 3 – Saving a Soul on the Edge

Chapter 3 – Saving a Soul on the Edge

Many serfs come after Nevar, and yet, he barrels through them all as the fear that was in him is completely buried at the prospect of finding his wife to be and a helper in his destiny. He doesn’t even notice the hanging bodies some of which are still alive used as decorations in the castle that his angel says his wife is in. Because of this, it’s a complete surprise to him to find his wife to be skinned alive and hanging from the ceiling with hooks in her hands and feet.

Stunned by this, Nevar says, “Is…is she even alive?”

The fear of his situation begins to enter him again as he finally realizes what’s around him. Bodies and the skins of humans, vampires, and serfs alike decorate this castle. This morbid sight is contrasted by the beautiful furniture, statues, and paintings that would typically decorate the house of a royal who would buy exotic and expensive items from across the world. All of this is being cleaned by the serfs in an attempt to keep all the normal furniture clean and the morbid ones somewhat clean.

“Yes, she is alive, but just barely. She is kept alive by dark sciences and her own will to survive strengthened by her God-given power as she was told that her husband to be would save her. You must find the girl that is wearing her skin, take it back, and give it back to your wife to be,” Nevar’s guardian angel says.

“Okay! Please, point me in her direction!”

Nevar’s guardian angel turns into a light that shines ahead of him to guide him in the right direction. To his surprise, the serfs in the castle don’t go after him and are instead going to other places to fulfill their duty with some even fighting each other for a reason he’ll find out soon. The hallways and rooms he is guided through subtly change and sometimes massively change with some being completely morbid with bodies both dead and alive in them and others having mostly furniture and art. He doesn’t think too long about why this is especially since he almost runs into a vampire lord that leaps by him. It seems like he’s going to have to fight them until he sees the blessed weapon in the lord’s hand and wonders why they would have it. The lord then leaps past him and clashes weapons with another lord.

“You’ll never inherit grandfather’s inheritance!” one says to the other.

“And you’ve held on to mother’s possessions for far too long! I will be the favored son of the family then its ruler!” the other responds.

Seeing this display of infighting makes Nevar unsure of what to do.

One of the lords looks at him then says, “Get involved in this and you die!”

Unsure of what to do, Nevar looks up to where his guardian angel’s light is and sees that it’s away from the fighting.

“I’m sorry! I’ll leave you two alone then!” Nevar says with his hands up.

He then follows his guardian angel’s light through fights of vampire lords fighting each other. Some of these lords are clearly wearing human skin like hunters in the wild wearing the skin of their prey. This sight makes Nevar anxious hoping that his guardian angel’s light shines over one of them so that he can save his wife to be. Eventually, he does find the lord that his guardian angel’s light shines over. This lord is a young woman about the same age as him who wears a purple dress decorated in warped crosses, gold stars, and stained with blood along with the skin that he was looking for. She’s in a room not decorated in the slighted with corpses as decorates but with corpses on the floor of a recent fight that she is still finishing with another lord. The young woman is not at all concerned with Nevar’s arrival, but the other lord is distracted and gets his arm cut off. She then tries to finish him off as the two lock blades with the other lord desperately trying to hold her off with its one last arm that holds its blade with sweaty hands.

“There…there he is,” the injured lord says, “The son of Raven Aurora. He’s the one we should be killing-”

“Shut up! I decide who I want to kill and it’s going to be you! Your allies and you interrupted our family’s fight for each other’s possessions and for that, you will die!” the young lord responds before killing the other.

After cutting off the lord’s head, the young woman spits on the vampire’s corpse before cleaning his blood off her blade.

She then begins to walk by Nevar while saying, “I don’t care who you are. Get out of my way and I’ll let you leave this tower just to spite the other lords.”

“I…I won’t let you leave! You have the skin of my wife to be so you must give it back,” Nevar says as he prepares for a fight.

The young woman stops walking and appears to be visibly furious as her skin suit stretches because of it.

“That girl…that wretch is your wife to be? She is nothing more than an overrated peasant! Your ‘wife to be’ was loved unjustly by everyone in the town we lived in and enjoyed every second of it. The only thing she’s worthy of is a slow death!”

“Even if you’re telling the truth, she’s my wife to be. I’ll love her no matter what.”

“Then you’ll die a slow death like her.”

Blinded by her emotions, the lord charges at Nevar without considering his skill and loses a leg because of it and is then quickly finished off by him whipping her head off.

“She must’ve been incredibly angry if she was this reckless. How am I going to take the skin off her?” Nevar says.

“The young woman had gone through many battles today as you can see and her fury at your wife to be led her to disregard her safety,” Nevar’s angel says.

“Can you help me take my wife to be’s skin off her? I don’t know how to do it myself.”

“That is no problem for me. I’ll reattach it to your wife to be as well.”

“Thank you so much. It would’ve been too much and too meticulous of a process for me to handle.”

“Come, let us hurry to her.”

“Right!”

Hurrying back to his wife to be, Nevar follows his guardian angel while also defending himself from relatives of the young woman he defeated who swear their vengeance on him. Thanks to the help of his guardian angel, he is able to defeat every lord and serf in his way flowing through them as if they were no more than a stationary obstacle than a living one, and make it back to his wife to be in time. His angel’s light envelops his wife to be as it reattaches her skin to her while taking her off the hooks in her hands and feet. Finally, Nevar’s wife to be has her skin on her body with stitches keeping it together. Nevar covers her nakedness with a nearby purple curtain and helps her sit up as she awakes.

“Hey, are you okay?” Nevar asks her.

Being this close to her lets Nevar see that she doesn’t exactly have the kind of appearance that would turn heads even if her skin wasn’t stitched on her body, however, something radiating from her that Nevar can’t see makes her a wonder to behold. The young girl opens her eyes and is surprised to be alive and safe with her skin on her body as she looks at it as if she’s seeing it for the very first time.

She then looks at Nevar and asks, “Who are you? Are you my husband to be that God promised me?”

“I am. My name is Nevar. What’s yours?”

“Vanina. Ah, do you know what happened to the girl that took my skin?”

“You won’t have to worry about her anymore. I killed her.”

“You did?”

“What’s the matter? You sound sad.”

“I did feel sad for her despite what she did for me. Is that strange to say?”

“Yes, it is. Why would you feel sad for a vampire like her?”

“When we were younger, she was always jealous of me for whatever reason. Maybe it’s because people would always come to me to help them? I was popular in my hometown because I’d help anyone who’d ask and didn’t ask. It couldn’t have been because she was jealous of the way I look. I’m not that pretty after all especially now.”

“That’s nonsense. I think you’re pretty despite your scars.”

“People always said that the radiance of my soul showed on my body, which I thought was a funny compliment. Still, the girl must’ve worn my skin thinking that she captured what other people saw. One day while we were in here, she came to me to complain that my skin wasn’t working for her even though she said that she made her family proud by doing what she did. She still couldn’t become the center of attention like she wanted.”

“That’s what happens when you just see things on the surface. Now, come on. I have to bring you to safety.”

“There he is! There’s the one that murdered one of our own and brought the other lords upon us during our sacred fight!” a vampire lord says as many of them enter the roof with their serfs.

Even though they are surrounded, Nevar still stands up ready to fight, and yet, he finds that his fear begins to overtake him as he feels that he is unable to move. He keeps telling himself to move, but his body won’t listen to him. Now, of all times, he is unsure what to do and most afraid because he doesn’t know how to protect himself in a way that would save both himself and Vanina. At the very least, they would end up wounded, which would make the rest of their journey next to impossible to complete as if it doesn’t appear that way already.

“Blessed Mother, come to our aid!” Vanina calls out.

A small light that the lords are blind to starts to shine within Vanina as she prays.

“The deluded girl will think her lady will save her when her praying hasn’t worked before!” a vampire lord mockingly says.

The lords then leap on the two, however, a barrier of light sharp as swords form around them and pierce the lords and their serfs while leaving Nevar and Vanina unharmed. With the threats to the two now dead, the swords of light disappear.

“That was amazing!” Vanina says as she jumps to her feet and is additionally surprised by this. “I can stand too! It feels like nothing happened to me!”

“Glory be to God,” Nevar says in a somewhat less than enthusiastic tone.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing at all actually. I’m really happy that you’re feeling okay and your prayers were answered. It’s just that…I’m disappointed that I froze up and didn’t act as fast as I should’ve. It’s stupid to be concerned about that and I’ll do better I know. Forget I said anything.”

“No, I get it. I was losing my faith off and on when I was hanging without my skin and without any sign of hope.”

“But I’m expected to be better. I’m expected to be brave.”

“I think you’re the bravest man I know for coming here to save me.”

“Thank you. That really helps me. Now, we should get you out of here.”

“Why? I can help.”

“That barrier only happened once. How do we know it will manifest again?”

“It will when God wills it,” Nevar’s guardian angel interrupts, “She will go with you and be integral to your victory.”

The angel then disappears as fast as it appeared.

“You see? I should go with you.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll allow it because my guardian angel says so.”

“That was your guardian angel?”

“Yes, it got me here and has been helping me through this entire thing. It even put your skin back on.”

“Wow. Thank you, angel!”

“You’re welcome,” the angel says as it appears then disappears again, which gets a chuckle out of Vanina and Nevar.

The two exit the room and continue their way upward through the castle. Along the way, they find that the lords and their serfs are still fighting each other despite recent events.

“Why do they keep fighting each other?” Nevar says.

“Vampire lords are vain, in general, especially this family. They want whatever their sinful hearts crave and this family wanted fame, fortune, possessions, and more. It’s one of the reasons why I felt bad for the girl that skinned me alive. She was pressured by her family to go above and beyond and nothing she did could truly satisfy them.”

“I’m still surprised you feel bad for her.”

“I’m surprised as well. A priest that I visited once said that it’s a particular God-given grace that makes me feel the same way that Christ did for us when He was crucified that being feeling pity for those who don’t deserve it.”

“That is a great blessing. It’s no wonder why your soul radiates so much.”

“It’s all thanks to my family, my parish, and my devotion to Our Lady, her husband, the saints I pray to, and the holy souls in Purgatory.”

As the two continue on their way up, some of the lords and serfs decide to go after them, however, they are undefeatable together. Nevar’s strength and skills are boosted by having Vanina around him and her compliments of his fighting abilities. That is not to say that she doesn’t help as her blessing activates when she pray to the Blessed Mother and when that doesn’t work, she uses the blessed weapons on the ground and gets in the fight when she can. When she can’t, she breaks the expensive statues, vases, and other novelties in the castle to distract the lords of this castle so that Nevar can easily kill them. Eventually, the two come across the apeman priest and his freed serfs.

“Father, wait up!” Nevar says to the priest.

“It’s good to see you’re okay in this vampire lord civil war madness. Who is this with you?”

“I am his wife to be, Vanina,” Vanina says.

“Did the vampires take your wedding rings? I could send some of my serfs to help you find them.”

“Oh, no. We just met,” Nevar says, “My guardian angel brought us together and helped me save her life, and the Blessed Mother even saved us.”

“I shouldn’t even be surprised that miraculous things happen around you, Nevar. I think I’ve gathered enough serfs to attack the center of it to bring this tower to the ground.”

“We’ll join you in your assault.”

“I expect it, but we have our own way of doing it that I’ve already put in effect, so you should take your own way. You already have enough help in Heaven, whereas we slaves need to make it up for ourselves first.”

The apeman priest runs away to join the serfs that he’s leading.

“Wait, hold on! You still haven’t told me your name!”

“He must be confident about our victory.”

“He’s also stubborn about not working together. We should get going as fast as we can since they’re already attacking the center.”

Nevar and Vanina hurry on their way to their destiny while the vampire lords now realize the threat approaching them and decide to make plans for it.