Eternal - First chapter rough (+Prologue)

Eternal

Death…

It permeates our world, a constant reminder of our impermanence upon this Earth. At least… it is for most people.

I turn away from the cliff, drawing my coat about me against the cold wind. It bites less hard now, the cold receding to the warmth of spring. Snow crunches beneath my boots as I move, a remnant of the past winter.

I am immortal. And sometimes… well just say I wish I wasn’t. I sigh and walk away, the sun setting behind me over the newly blossoming trees in the valley below. The colors and scents are dulled by my distance, yet I can still register them. I listen as the wind picks up, the cold biting deeper, as if trying to hold on to it's melting pedestal of ice.

I look over my shoulder at the grave I had been standing by. The soft mound of earth still bearing the signs of being recently dug. The white tombstone bearing a name I can't bring myself to read. I turn away, plodding through the snow. ‘Well,’ I think ruefully, ‘I shouldn’t complain. After all, I asked for this.’ And with that, my old life disappeared with the receding winter. A last vestige of life dying as the world enters it's seasonal rebirth.

I reach the rocky ledge overlooking the wreckage of what had been my birthplace. Ruined buildings stretching away from me. Smoke stings my eyes from the recent flames I had kindled among those buildings. The sun makes the buildings appear bathed in blood as I look upon them, remembering the real blood that is there. ‘My fault, all for my own damned desire to live forever. My family, dead. My friends, dead. My heart… well, that’s dead too now.’

‘I doubt now that one ever beat in my chest, how else could I have done this?’ I jump over the small cliff, landing with a crunch as my shins and ankles break n the rocks below. I wait for them to heal before standing and and beginning to walk toward the dead city, the darkness increasing with every passing minute. I walk into the town and look about me, old memories playing before my eyes. To my right is the building that once held a butcher's shop, the man had been kind and had regularly allowed me to snatch free morsels from his counter along with his son. To my left is his home, where I had once spent the night with the butcher's son and many other friends.

I walk on, recalling the past as I pass each gutted structure. Snow and ashes giving way before my booted feet and my cloak swirling behind me. I pass the Mayor's home, where I had once been caught kissing his daughter. He had laughed while his wife scolded their daughter. My parents had scolded me as well, but more severely.

I stop before a broken fountain covered in snow, the ash covered by the whiteness. I look around, imagining my friends playing with various rocks, cards, or ropes. I seem to hear their laughter as I watch the memories. Laughter that turns to screams before fire consumes them all.

Their faces appear to hover before me as they burn, eyes pleading and accusing, their mouths emitting silent shrieks of agony. The specters vanish and I continue on my journey, the shattered fountain disappearing in the oncoming night.

I pass the home of a merchantman who had once tried to cheat my father. He had gone before the courts and been placed in this house so as to repay his crimes. The red and gold splendor is faded now, the carpets burned and the tapestries incinerated.

I pass the courtrooms themselves, the loud shouts of men and women and children who had tried to condemn me resonating from within. The once white stone columns now blackened and shattered. They had tried to burn me, they were the ones who burned. I look dispassionately upon the corpses strewn upon the stairs, their flesh burned away and their bones exposed to the biting cold.

I walk on, passing memory after memory, all of them trying to get me to feel remorse. None succeed, my fear of death had once been greater than my care for them. I have neither fear nor care as they fade into the night.

I step on something neither snow nor ash. I look down and see a child's doll. The snow crunching beneath me I kneel down and pick it up. I look around and find the body of a child, her dress still partially intact. I lift one of her arms and place the doll under it. The doll seems at home there, I stand and turn away, continuing upon my dispassionate journey.

I stop as I hear a sudden noise some fifty feet ahead of me. I listen closely and discern voices. Some people still lived then. I walk towards the location of the sound. It is silent now except for barely discernible breathing. The noise is coming from a place I had once known quite well.

It was the church they had built here for the Church of Light. I had once attended meetings here, praying and singing with the others there. The priest had been a fervent man, always using forceful speech to make us understand that he was our path to salvation. Perhaps he had been. I'll never know, I am forever damned by my actions.

I walk in and find the priest with a dirty cloth around his eyes. He was blind now, the eyes that had once shone with brilliance and conviction darkened and hidden behind the ash stained leather. I approach where he kneels in prayer and he lifts his head.

He opens his mouth and says, “Well, it looks like you've found me at last.” His voice is hoarse, but full and strong, “I would ask for mercy but I know now that it is an emotion you do not possess. I saw what you did to those poor, misguided, people. Myself among them. But though they were misguided, you were ever more so.” He gestures to his legs, “My legs are broken and I have lost my eyes, I have spent the last week crawling to this spot so I could pray once more for my soul to be saved. I got here just this morning you know, happiest moment of my life. I was almost done praying for you when you got here.” He smiles wanly.
“Good thing I got here then, I stopped you wasting your breath. I am beyond any salvation.” I speak quietly, looking upon this man who had never faltered in his belief, even when he was blind, crippled, and nearly dead with no friends nor family alive left to comfort him.

He nods, “I know, I was praying you would suffer enough that you could be forgiven. I would that you wait for me to finish, so that I can also bless the soul of the one you buried upon the mountain.”

“You watched me?” I ask dully.

He nods, “Before I burned my eyes out so that I could forever see the last display of your love for her. So I would not have to look upon the monster you have become. May I continue, or will you kill me?”

I hesitate before saying, “Continue, if anyone deserves paradise it is her.”

He smiles, “You are not completely gone. With any luck you'll join her. I just hope that you are punished more severely than any other man, woman, or child that has ever walked upon this green world.” He bows his head once more and I sit upon a still standing pew.

My eyes never leave him as he continues praying, head bowed and lips moving silently. I feel a breath of wind and feel a shift in the support in the building's structure. The preacher lifts his head to the heavens, spreading his arms and cries out, “Salvation come to ye all!” His shout gives a trembling beam above him one last push and it falls, crushing him.

I stand and say, “Amen.”

I walk out of the building and continue on my way. Whatever being gave out salvation had brought it to that preacher. If I had killed him his soul would have been tainted, now it will remain clean wherever he's going.

‘My flesh may be clean, but my existence is forever stained with blood.’ I think darkly. Then I walk into the dark night, never to return.

100 years later


I watch as a cart rumbles past, wondering how these people still live while death surrounds them. I shudder in pain as I feel my flesh begin to crawl and change. I focus and stop the transformation, ‘I may be without heart or soul,’ I think grimly, ‘but human form, at least, I will keep. A beast in the flesh of man.’

The, probably not so, innocent merchant disappears around a corner and I step out onto the path and head in the opposite direction. I soon arrive at my destination, slipping into the shadows of the wall as a guard passes above. When the guard is gone I quickly scale the wall and am soon at the top.

I crouch in an alcove as a second guard passes, then flip over the other side and snag a ledge with practiced ease, making less noise than a breath of wind. I then brace myself and drop the fifty feet to the stone flagstones behind a tavern, my bones swiftly mending and I am soon ready once again.

I leap onto a roof and quickly begin to make my way to the citadel at the center of the city. I grin behind my mask. ‘Of all the occupations I have had,’ I chuckle inwardly, ‘being an assassin is by far the most fun.’

I feel a burning pain in my lower leg and barely make it to the next roof before collapsing. I look around for the culprit and soon find it. I hiss in displeasure, I had stepped on the chimney of a forge, searing my flesh through the loose cloth wrapped around my foot. My eyes fill with flame and my flesh begins once again to tremble, on the very edge of transformation I force myself to stop. I can burn it on the way out, no need to worry about it now. There is work to be done. I turn away swiftly and resume my passage across the roofs, intent on getting this done so I can burn that building to the ground.

I reach my destination, a four story stone mansion spanning some fifteen hundred feet. I rapidly assess the defenses and nearly collapse in laughter. No soldiers, not even town militia as guards. Well, there wouldn’t be. If the brightly lit palace was to be a decoy, this mansion needed to look like there was no one worth protecting there.

I make my way across the green lawn, careful to avoid treading on wires and bear traps hidden among the grass. I reach the front door easily and leap onto the overhang above it, scaling the rough stone with the ease of almost a half-century of practice. I find an unlocked window and swing silently through it, landing softly on the padded carpet.

I look up only to find myself staring down a dozen crossbows standing between me and the quivering lump I had been sent to destroy. I grin as the captain says, “Nice try assassin, but we are not so stupid as all that! Fire!” At the last word they all pull the triggers on their bows, sending the stout bolts deep into my skull.
Blood streams from my nearly destroyed head as I fall back, limp and apparently lifeless. The captain orders his men to dispose of my corpse before turning to the worthless dignitary trembling behind him. My mutilated jaws twists as I grin in sadistic glee, I could almost feel sorry for them.

I shudder as my flesh and blood begins to crawl back and reconstruct my destroyed skull. A deep, hoarse laugh rumbles from my throat as I stand once more, the soldiers frozen in terror.

I lick my lips, catching a drop of my own blood upon my tongue. I bare my teeth in an animalistic parody of a grin. The captain shouts orders to his men and they begin to frantically draw long knives from sheathes buckled at their sides. I raise one hand and allow a minor transformation of my flesh to take place, my fingers lengthening into long steel claws.

They gleam in the light of the newly risen moon as I raise my hand to strike the soldiers down when I suddenly feel a deep, resonating pain in my stomach. I look down to see that the captain had taken his sword and thrown through my abdomen. I seize the sword with my still human hand and slide it slowly out of my flesh, a slow sucking sound accompanying its withdrawal from my body.
I look up and say, “Your name before I kill you human.”
He looks back defiantly and says, “Captain Holt of the 3rd Regiment of the Imperial army, undead filth.”

My grin broadens and I reply, “Well, Captain Holt, I’ll leave you to go free of the fate of your men and this dignitary. But I know that the very offer insults you so I shall merely make it quick. Out of respect for you bravery. You have served your nation well, Captain Holt of the 3rd Regiment, may she honor death better than she honored mine.” So saying I struck him through the heart with his own sword.

He seems to be half-grateful, half-furious, as he falls to the ground, expression and life leaving his face as he hits the cold stone with a dull thud. I turn to the guards and say, "Time for the scum to die as well." A cloud of blood fills the room, their screams cut off by my razor sharp claws. When the red cloud turns into a rain I am the only one standing. The blood sloshes at my feet as I wade toward the dignitary I had been ordered to slay.

I seize their shoulder and turn them toward me so I can see the fear in their eyes as rend their life asunder. Then, for the first time in one-hundred years, I stumble back in shock. The woman, for the dignitary is indeed female, has the face of the one I buried on that mountain so long ago. I feel a sudden realization pulse through me, she'd had a sister. That sister must have escaped and had a family, descendants. And one of these descendants is staring me right in the face.

She glares at me defiantly, "Well, you're here to kill me aren't you? Get on with it."

I shake my head numbly, "Not anymore."

She seems confused, "Then who-?"

I interrupt her, "It is no concern of yours. Just know your ancestor would have been proud."

"My ancestor?! What does-?"

I cut her off again, "I knew her one-hundred years ago. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a man with a lot of gold to dismember."

I'm halfway out the window when she says, "Wait!"

I turn back, irritated, "You WANT to die? Because believe you me I WILL kill you if you hold me up any longer."

She scoffs, "I doubt it. What is your name?"

I shrug, "I don't remember." I completely exit the room and hang from the top of the window, "Goodnight milady, cast may have nine lives, but remember, curiosity killed the cat. So don't go sticking your nose into things that don't concern you." So saying I drop to the grounds below and begin my swift return to my employer, he would regret hiring me for this particular assignment.
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I look at the window in confusion, what did he mean he didn't remember his name? Could it be possible that he really was over one-hundred years old? I shake my head, he must be exaggerating. He would have to be magical for that to be possible. And there was no magic left in the world, the Church of Light had stamped it all out in the Blood Wars fifty years ago. At least, that's what the Church said.

Somehow it didn't seem possible for them to have exterminated ALL the magic in the world. How could they have done? Their influence didn't reach far past my country's borders. And my country couldn't be the only one with magic.

Still, it did seem very unlikely for him to have survived through the fire one-hundred years ago and the Blood Wars. And if he had, why was he an assassin instead of a magician or sorcerer?

Somehow I got the feeling that only one person in the world would know. And he had just jumped from my window.
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I stand over the quivering animal of a man before me and growl, "Where is he?"

"I-I don't kn-augh!" I kick him again, "All right, all right." He sobs, "He said something about your homeland and a curse or something. I don't know anything else! Please, let me live! Plea-!" His voice cuts out as I stab him through the throat.

I let myself shift. I may not like it, but I am much faster as a beast than as a man. I shudder in pain as my bones melt and shift. My muscles begin to twist and stretch, then tighten over my newly shaped skeleton. My eyes run as the pupils and irises change, the pupils to slits and the irises bright orange, my teeth elongate and sharpen and fur begins to emerge all over my body. My clothes and knife all fall to the floor as my body expands and tears them off.

I rise on my four legs and seize my knife in my teeth. I then rummage around in my clothing for the loop of leather cord I keep in my pocket. I hook the catch on the hilt of my knife onto the cord and sling it over my neck.

I shake myself slightly then burst out of the hideaway, the guards scrambling back from my hulking form. I ignore them and launch off after the scent of the man I want to kill so badly. I leap and speed through the woods, everything blurring alongside me.

Suddenly I stop and slam into a tree, entangled in something that will not yield to my immense strength. I stop struggling and wait, storing energy to break the net. I see it's owners approaching masked and robed.. Laughing and cheering at their good fortune. The bear the twin arrows and golden ring of the Church of Light. I feel fury add to the energy gathering in my body as they come closer. The one in front says, in a voice that I would recognize one million miles away, "Always use the correct bait to catch a beast. In this case it was building up your hatred by sending you after her and deliberately making you follow me. And you fell for it."

He stands and begins a well rehearsed litany I have heard many times before, "We stand here, the wielders of the Brilliance of Justice. Here to banish magic, the work of Darkness." He draws a sword in an over-dramatic flourish, "Darkness that will be banished with this blade. Here we stand, and here Darkness will fall. Justice is served!" The others echo him.

I roll my eyes. 'Well, time to escape now.' I think, boredly. I let the energy surge into my muscles and snap the nets cords like the strings of a cobweb. Some f the cords, at the release of the tension, snap out and slam into the soldiers, throwing some back and tearing flesh and limbs off others. Their leader cries out in shock and fear. Unfortunately for him, I get faster when I'm angry. His scream cut out in a melody of tearing flesh and breaking bones.

Once again I caused a sea of blood to flow, but this time, there were no survivors.
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I walk down the musty shelves that only people of my rank have access to. I pass ancient tome after ancient tome, the book I am looking for remaining elusive. Finally I reach the end of the last shelf and find a tiny, inconspicuous book bound in cracked brown leather. I remove it gently and set it on the floor.

I carefully open it to the only page and am immediately bombarded by a series of gruesome images and horrifying scenes. Sorrow, hatred and regret all flow through me in a torrent of pain and emptiness.

What seems like hours later the book releases me. I am on the ground shuddering, my eyes clamped shut in a vain attempt to stop the images. I slowly open my eyes and rise up. The book is closed once more and back on it's shelf. I stand slowly and walk back to my quarters.

My find is filled with the knowledge I just acquired. The entirety of that beast's life had flashed before me and had left me with more answers than I had desired. At least I know his name now.

His name. I shudder. His name is still used to instill fear in children and adults. A constant threat to anyone and anything, a ruthless killer with no place in any reality. He had vanished from history fifty years ago and everyone had thought him dead during the Blood Wars. According to those visions, the Blood Wars were his idea. He had manipulated and twisted the leaders of the Church of Light and directed them to his own foul means.

There is no good in that beast, no, demon is a better term. The only reason he spared me was because the self he had suppressed so many years ago had arisen and halted him because of my uncanny resemblance to his lover. I shudder, that is a most undesirable fate.

Still, I digress, it must have been horrible for him to have killed so many of the ones he loved. But can anything truly be horrible to that demon? That Demon, Semiazas.
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I freeze as the magic echoes across the valley and turn back towards the city I had just left. Only one kind of magic has that particular ring to it. I begin to speed back to the city, if someone had opened that book and found out about me they would know how to kill me. And no one can know that. I will kill them first, even if it is that descendant.

I leap over the outer wall, screams echoing in the breaking dawn. I head straight for the castle, following the echoes of magic with practiced, though long unused, skill. I leap through the same window to find myself once again face to face with the woman I had spared. She shone with magic, a pity. part of me had hoped that she would not have to die. Oh, well.

She looks at me calmly and says, "Hello, Semiazas."

I blink, momentarily stymied, Semiazas? The name sounded... familiar.

"I suppose you're here to try to kill me."

I snap out of my reverie, "Try? Believe me girl I WILL kill you."

"Will you?"

"Of course." So saying, and nearly biting my tongue as speaking as a beast is rather inconvenient, I step forward and raise one, large claw. I bring it down in a mighty swoop and stop an inch before her throat. Suddenly my entire body seizes up, paralyzing me, mostly, I can still speak.

"What have you done to me?" I snarl.

She looks at me calmly, "I have done nothing, you have done this to yourself." So saying she picks up a vial of shining liquid that I had not noticed before, her own aura, filled with magical residue, had hidden it from my sight.

I begin to fight the paralysis, battling my way toward mobility. My claw twitches, grazing her neck and drawing blood. She shudders and step back, unstoppering the vial. A pulse of magical energy, repulsive to me, bursts from the vial and locks me completely in place.

Totally incapable of movement I watch defiantly as she steps forward and empties the contents of the vial upon my forehead. The liquid flows down my face and begins to sear my flesh. Unable to move I am forced to watch the girl as she steps back from me and watches as the potion forces me to revert to human form.
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I watch as he transforms back into human form. His eyes never leaving mine. I had expected to see fear there, instead I see steady defiance and hatred. Underneath that though, is a spark of pain that I knew had been awakened by my appearance and apparent betrayal.

I feel a slight fascination as some of my fear drains away. Here was a magical being who had manipulated and murdered for one-hundred years without being caught or destroyed. He had caused so much pain and destruction, an invincible warlord among the shadows.

I begin to wonder if I could use his considerable powers against the Church of Light. They had long been killing beings such as he, but he had made them his conquering army and destroyed all his opponents, using them as he would use his claw against me.

I touch the symbol at my neck, it was supposedly one of the most powerful binding runes ever made. I had long believed the magic gone but maybe...

Swiftly I remove it from it's chain and press it against the back of his outstretched hand. Immediately he begins to move, his hand seizing my throat in a grip that seems stronger than the Earth itself.

"What have you done to me?" He snarls through clenched teeth. I suddenly realize that his grip is not tightening. I look at the rune, it had transformed into a ring on his index finger. It was glowing with a brilliant light that had spread up his arm and was slowly encasing his whole body.

His eyes follow mine and he snarls. He releases my and begins to claw at the light with his free hand. The light immediately begins to divert and flow up his other arm and encase that as well. His eyes go wide and he murmurs, "Ni'leth." The light explodes outward raising him into the air and wrapping him in a shining cocoon.

When the light fades, he is on the ground, unconscious. I stumble to my feet and, with a sudden shock, realize that he is nude. My face flushed, I turn quickly away and drape a blanket over him.

Suddenly I hear a knock at my door. I hurry over and open it. My retainer, Gerard, looks at my and at the room behind me. I flush a deeper red as I realize what he must think must have happened.

Thinking quickly I say, "What is it Gerard?"

He bows and says, "I merely wished to discover the source of the noise. As my Lady knows, your guard is dead and the assassin may return. I have explained this to you once already, just before your sojourn to the library."

I nod impatiently, "I know Gerard. This man is no assassin. He is here by my design and no others. Now if you'll excuse us, we're busy."

He bows and says, "As you wish my Lady." He turns then pauses and looks back, "I trust my Lady would wish me to keep this a secret from her brother and father?"

"Absolutely." I say firmly. "Thank you Gerard, now if you'll excuse us." He bows and promptly shuts the door.

I turn to Semiazas, he is still unconscious and is now muttering in his sleep. I sigh and collapse into a chair. At least he has a reason to be here now. If not an overt one, certainly a valid one. I look at him once again, well I could have done worse.

And with that last, shocking thought, I too descend into unconsciousness.
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I awake covered in a blanket and naught else. I look around and see the girl asleep in a chair on the far side of the room. My mind burns with the desire to destroy her but the Ni'leth rune on my finger prevents it. I look at it distastefully, I had once believed all the sealing runes to be destroyed. Apparently, mine had survived.

There had been runes for each of us. Made during the Blood Wars they were supposed to hide us from the Church soldiers. They did, at first. But the Church caught on when one of us took their rune off to cast a spell. After that, anyone wearing jewelry was assumed to be wearing a rune. Funnily enough, I don't remember much about those wars. I don't remember anything beyond their end.

Apparently my name is Semiazas, I don't know how the girl found it out, but for some reason I wish she hadn't. It has a certain terror to it that seems all to at home describing me. It seems to speak of a past that I had created through horror and bloodshed. Like the one I am creating now.

At some point my mind had been erased, most of it at any rate. I remember nothing of the Blood Wars and the twenty years preceding. But everything before that I remember with crystal clarity. It seems like I had wanted those years erased however because I remember thanking someone for it.

I wonder what I had done, or what someone else had done that- pain overwhelms me as my mind is once again dominated by my more violent self. Soon almost all traces of my kinder, more considering self had been replaced by the beast that had earned me my reputation. My mind was once again dominated by Semiazas.

I reach to my neck and remove my knife from it's place around my neck. I look at the blade calmly, then put it back in it's sheath. At least I am still armed. Time to wreak havoc until she releases me. I try to stand and but find myself seemingly trapped. I sigh and fall back, orders are orders after all, I wonder if she thinks she'll be joining me here. I chuckle derisively. That would be interesting.

I feel my other self battle my power with his own feeble strikes. I ignore him and to continue to examine my new Master. She is fair skinned with dark hair, and from what I remember her eyes are brown, bordering on green. She is fairly beautiful, by human standards, and has a certain air of authority making her seem out of reach, which makes her even more enthralling. I grin. I've had worse Masters.

Suddenly my long dormant self bursts from his cell within my mind, taking me by surprise, never had such force come from my other self! I fight back, but to no avail, within seconds he has overcome and imprisoned me. Me! Semiazas! The slaughterer of millions! The-

I shake my head as Semiazas' ramblings recede. He will not have this era. This is my time, and that demon will not stop me. Especially when he's trying to kill the person who resembles Sienna like a mirror. I stand and wrap the blanket around me. I cross the room and touch her lightly on the arm.

She jerks awake and looks wildly around before realizing that there is no one else there. She locks eyes with mine and looks puzzled.

“What happened to your eyes?” She asks me.

I blink in confusion, “What?”

“Your eyes were red, now they're green. What happened?”

Green eyes... “Must be because I suppressed Semiazas.”

“Suppressed?”

“You though that Semiazas was totally in control? Didn't the book tell you anything about me?”

“It told me about Semiazas...” She looks at me disbelievingly, “How do I know you're not trying to trick me?”

“You don't. And personally I would prefer it if you would trust me when I say Semiazas is suppressed but I know that's a bit of a stretch so...” I shrug.

She looks at me fairly angrily before saying, “That rune makes it so you have to obey me, correct?” I nod silently, “Then tell me the truth!”

I repeat what I told her and she slumps back in her chair. She looks at me in disbelief, “So you've been in there all this time?”

“Yes.”

“Letting him kill people?”

I look fairly guilty about that, “Yes?”

“And you never bothered trying to stop him before you saw me?”

I am offended by this, “I have been trying for a whole century to get that demon under control. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It's not my fault I'm not as strong as him!”

“It's your fault he exists in the first place!”

I stagger back as though she had slapped me. Of course, she knew about what I had done.

She looks at me in disgust, “You are horrible. Thinking that just because you managed to do it now means that all is forgiven. YOU killed all those people, not Semiazas. It's your fault that all this happened. Your fault she's dead. And you just see her in my face, that's why you try so hard to get me to trust you. You are despicable. A selfish, cowering, beast that has no concern except his own gain.”

By the time she finishes I am reeling within and then I shattered. That whole aspect of my consciousness is destroyed. Semiazas roars in triumph at my destruction, surfacing in a wave of power as I die.
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I step back as his eyes turn blood-red and murderous. No trace of that past self remains and Semiazas appears from within. I wanted this, I destroyed him so he would not half to suffer any longer. Now he is dead and happier somewhere else. Now only Semiazas is left in that body, only he is around to torment and destroy. And he is happy to do it.

“No doubt you thought destroying him was an act of mercy.” He says, grinning, “It wasn't the moment he died I absorbed him, his soul, his mind, his heart. All became part of me, just as his family, friends, and your ancestor became part of me.”

I step back, horrified, a silent no escaping my lips.

The demon steps forward, grinning, “Oh yes, you condemned him to eternal suffering within me, how does that feel, my Lady?” He laughs as I fall back into my chair, despair gripping me, “You're no better than I, human. Face it, you might as well be as much a part of me as he is!”

At these words a light blasts from within the recesses of my guilt slogged mind, he was trying to get me to join with him, that's all! I look up defiantly and he snarls at the expression. I stand up, straight and tall, summoning all my regal bearing, “Silence, demon. I will hear no more of your filthy words. Now kneel and await my command!”

He kneels, an expression of vicious hatred upon his face. I turn my back solidly and walk to the door. I open it and find Gerard standing beside it, as I
knew he would be.

“You heard everything?” I ask him levelly.

He bows, “Unfortunately so, Lady. What is it you require of me?”

“Some clothes for this... entity.” I open the door and gesture to the kneeling demon.

Gerard nods, “As you wish my Lady.” He departs and I close the door.

Turning to the demon I say, “From now on you shall tell me the truth, always. Nor shall you twist it into riddles, or lay it underneath words of guile or deceit. You shall tell me things as they are, were, or shall be as truthfully as if you had never lied nor intended or intend to. Do you understand?”

He grimaces and says, “I understand, Master.”

I look at him deliberately, “Did I leave any loopholes?”

He snarls and says, “Yes, you allowed me to write, draw, or act untruths.”

“Then you shall never give, tell, portray, act, or in any other way create untruths or disguise the truth to me.” I amend, “And now?”

His snarl becomes more pronounced, “Yes, you allowed me to give untruths to others.”

I smile, “That was intentional.” I watch the look of shock spread across his face. Then I continue, “You shall not create, endeavor to create, aid in the creation of, or supply means to harm me. While you are under my control you shall allow no harm to come to me unless I order it. Nor shall you harm anyone within ten leagues of me. Have I left any loopholes there?” He shakes his head no and I continue, “You shall not take orders from any person, entity, or any other being, non-being, creature, undead, or anything that can affect this world in any way excepting my express permission. Any loopholes?”

“No, Master.”

“Furthermore, you shall refer to me as 'My Lady' or 'Lady Lillian'.” I finish.

“Yes, My Lady.”

At that moment a knock comes at my door and I call, “Who is it?”

“Gerard, I am here with the clothes for the newcomer.”

I immediately recognize the warning in his words, he had not said 'My Lady', a sign we discussed as a signal that there was unwelcome company outside. I raise my voice and say, “Very well, I shall be with you momentarily.” I turn to Semiazas, “You have the ability to change yourself into anything?” He shakes his head. I swear quietly and say, “Very well hide on the ceiling.” He nods and leaps up, clinging to the ceiling.

I open the door and see Gerard standing with clothing and my brother standing behind him. My brother comes in before Gerard and says, “Lillian! How good it is to see you safe! I heard about the attempt on your life, they say it was a monster of some sort, are you all right?”

I smile and say, “I am fine, brother. As you can see, I have not a scratch on my body.”

He smiles and says, “That is well. Who is this newcomer Gerard spoke of, I do not see anyone here.” He looks around as if to see someone hiding behind a curtain.

I shrug and look at Gerard, “This is the first I've heard of it, who ARE you referring to Gerard?”

Gerard carefully arranges the clothes on the foot of my bed and replies, “I was merely told you had a visitor who required some clothing.”

My brother looks at the clothes, “But these are a man's clothes! Why would a man ask you-?” He suddenly looks at me slyly, “Could have a found a bed mate sister? Were you so fervent you tore his clothing?”

I flush slightly, “No brother, I just said, I do not know who the clothes are for.”

He grins, “Well then, I shall see you at council today.” He departs, grinning.

I turn to Gerard, who bows and says, “ I apologize, my Lady, he was concerned and I could not evade him.”

I smile and say, “It wasn't your fault Gerard. You performed admirably. No doubt my dearest brother is eaves dropping at this moment, wondering if we just told him a lie.” I hear a muffled curse and boots stomping down the stairs.

“Go now and accompany him Gerard, I do not want him returning for at least two hours.” Gerard bows and departs after my brother.

I look up, “You may come down now.” I tell Semiazas. He drops down obediently and, averting my eyes, I hand him the clothes. I wait until he says, “I am finished dressing, Lady Lillian.”

I turn and thank Gerard for his foresight, he had given Semiazas the uniform of a personal guard, giving Semiazas the perfect excuse to never leave my side. I appraise him carefully and say, “Guards don't usually wear knives around their necks.”

“They aren't usually contained demons either.” He retorts smoothly.

I glare at him before saying, “We must make sure you have the correct equipment and training. We will go down to the training circle and you will show them your ability, you will not kill them, unless I order it.” He inclines his head bitterly.

I lead him out to the testing field and present him to the Guardsman Lieutenant, who wastes no time in giving Semiazas a broadsword an dragging him onto the circle. The Lie grins and says, “Well, if you qualified to be a personal guard you must be good. I'm a tad rusty from my old days but I think I'm good enough for a greenhorn.”

I can see that Semiazas is having trouble not scowling, “I shall do my best.” He says coolly before drawing his sword.

The Lieutenant grins and draws his own sword. They stand there, just looking at each other, then the Lieutenant attacks, whirling his blade around so fast it blurs. Semiazas drops his broadsword, then claps his hands over the flat of the Lieutenant's sword, stopping it dead.

Silence resonates throughout the training ground, shock emanating from the onlookers. Then the Guardsmen Lieutenant pulls out a long knife and attacks Semiazas' side. Semiazas raises an eyebrow and twists the broadsword out of the Lieutenant's hand and, spinning around and sending the knife flying.

The silence becomes ever more pronounced as the knife flies through the air, stabbing into the ground with a thud. Semiazas steps back and gives the Lieutenant his sword back, bowing. The man takes it, wonder on his face. He looks at Semiazas and says, “Never before have I been beaten so badly. What is your name, Weapon's Master?”

Semiazas appears to think for a moment, then says, “Terail.”

“Well, Terail, I think that Lady Lillian is in good hands if their yours.” The Lieutenant holds out his hand for Semiazas to shake. Semiazas does so, hesitantly.

He then turns to me and says, “What now, my Lady?”

I look at him, amazed and more than a little frightened. Then I say, “We must present you to my father.” He raises an eyebrow but says nothing.

As we make our way back to the castle he says, “What will happen if your brother is present?”

“He will not be, by now he is more likely in town chasing after young women than bothering to listen the boring goings on at court.” S.he turns to me and says, “Unless I say otherwise you will obey my father as you obey me.” I nod and we continue to our destination

We turn down the hallway approaching my father's chambers and arrive at the doors before the guards. They step in front of us, looking bored and the one on the left said, “State your business.”

“We are hear to see my father about the appointment of my personal guard, Terail.”

He looks at his companion, then at Semiazas, and says, “Very well, I will announce you.”

He turns through the door and I hear him say, “The Lady Lillian and Terail to see you, sir.”

He comes back out and says, “Go on in, the war council is almost over.”

“War council?” I say, shocked, “Who are we going to war with?”

He shrugs, “Some foreign folk. I dunno. Word is they're not human, though. Guess some escaped the Blood Wars.”

Eternal: Extended

Eternal

-Death…
-It permeates our world, a constant reminder of our impermanence upon this Earth. At least… it is for most people.
-I turned away from the cliff, drawing my coat about me against the cold wind.
-I am immortal. And sometimes… well just say I wish I wasn’t. I sighed and walked away, the sun setting behind me over the autumn trees in the valley below.
-I looked over my shoulder at the grave I had been standing by. ‘Well,’ I thought ruefully, ‘I shouldn’t complain. After all, I asked for this.’ I turned away grimly and walked down the path, my last tie to my old life, gone.
-I reached the ledge overlooking the wreckage of what had been my birthplace. ‘My fault, all for my own damned desire to live forever. My family, dead. My friends, dead. My heart… well, that’s dead too now.’
-‘I doubt now that one ever beat in my chest, how else could I have done this?’ I jumped over the small cliff and began to walk toward the dead city. I walked past the wreckage of the church that once had told me that that was where my soul would be saved.
-It had been the first to burn. For what use could a church be for one without a soul? None at all. My eyes flashed red in the light of the sun. ‘My flesh may be clean, but my existence is forever stained with blood.’
100 years later

-I watch as a cart rumbles past, wondering how these people still live while death surrounds them. I shudder in pain as I feel my flesh begin to crawl and change. I focus and stop the transformation, ‘I may be without heart or soul,’ I think grimly, ‘but human form, at least, I will keep. A beast in the flesh of man.’
-The, probably not so, innocent merchant disappears around a corner and I step out onto the path and head in the opposite direction. I soon arrive at my destination, slipping into the shadows of the wall as a guard passes above. When the guard is gone I quickly scale the wall and am soon at the top.
-I crouch in an alcove as a second guard passes, then flip over the other side and snag a ledge with practiced ease, making less noise than a breath of wind. I then brace myself and drop the fifty feet to the stone flagstones behind a tavern, my bones swiftly mending and I am soon ready once again.
-I leap onto a roof and quickly begin to make my way to the citadel at the center of the city. I grin behind my mask. ‘Of all the occupations I have had,’ I chuckle inwardly, ‘being an assassin is by far the most fun.’
-I feel a burning pain in my lower leg and barely make it to the next roof before collapsing. I look around for the culprit and soon find it. I hiss in displeasure, I had stepped on the chimney of a forge, searing my flesh through the loose cloth wrapped around my foot. My eyes fill with flame and my flesh begins once again to tremble, on the very edge of transformation I force myself to stop. I can burn it on the way out, no need to worry about it now. There is work to be done.I turn away swiftly and resume my passage across the roofs, intent on getting this done so I burn that building to the ground.
-I reach my destination, a four story stone mansion spanning some fifteen hundred feet. I rapidly assess the defenses and nearly collapse in laughter. No soldiers, not even town militia as guards. Well, there wouldn’t be. If the brightly lit palace was to be a decoy, this mansion needed to look like there was no one worth protecting there.
-I make my way across the green lawn, careful to avoid treading on wires and bear traps hidden among the grass. I reach the front door easily and leap onto the overhang above it, scaling the rough stone with the ease of almost a half-century of practice. I find an unlocked window and swing silently through it, landing softly on the padded carpet.
-I look up only to find myself staring down a dozen crossbows standing between me and the quivering lump I had been sent to destroy. I grin as the captain says, “Nice try assassin, but we are not so stupid as all that! Fire!” At the last word they all pull the triggers on their bows, sending the stout bolts deep into my skull.
Blood streams from my nearly destroyed head as I fall back, limp and apparently lifeless. The captain orders his men to dispose of my corpse before turning to the worthless dignitary trembling behind him. My mutilated jaws twists as I grin in sadistic glee, I could almost feel sorry for them.
-I shudder as my flesh and blood begins to crawl back and reconstruct my destroyed skull. A deep, hoarse laugh rumbles from my throat as I stand once more, the soldiers frozen in terror.
-I lick my lips, catching a drop of my own blood upon my tongue. I bare my teeth in an animalistic parody of a grin. The captain shouts orders to his men and they begin to frantically draw long knives from sheathes buckled at their sides. I raise one hand and allow a minor transformation of my flesh to take place, my fingers lengthening into long steel claws.
-The gleam in the light of the newly risen moon as I raise my hand to strike the soldiers down when I suddenly feel a deep, resonating pain in my stomach. I look down to see that the captain had taken his sword and thrown through my abdomen. I seize the sword with my still human hand and slide it slowly out of my flesh, a slow sucking sound accompanying its withdrawal from my body.
I look up and say, “Your name before I kill you human.”
He looks back defiantly and says, “Captain Holt of the 3rd Regiment of the Imperial army, undead filth.”
-My grin broadens and I reply, “Well, Captain Holt, I’ll leave you to go free of the fate of your men and this dignitary. But I know that the very offer insults you so I shall merely make it quick. Out of respect for you bravery. You have served your nation well, Captain Holt of the 3rd Regiment, may she honor death better than she honored mine.” So saying I struck him through the heart with his own sword.

Between Thieves and Liars

Between Thieves and Liars

Fragment from Record 7, the 37th day of the 61st year after the fall of the Traumitarian Empire.


I have lain down this record to be concealed among the corpses of my fathers. Though, I am bitter to admit it, my mother was more important by far. As I bury this the drumming of soldier’s boots will no doubt be swiftly approaching, announcing my demise. I just hope my efforts are not in vain…

Three thousand years later….

-Scion awoke, shaking violently. What in the name of the Seven Stars had that been? He tried, though it repulsed him, he tried to remember every detail of the dream. As he was training to be a priest, he must be able to record and translate dreams and nightmares such as this. Still, one detail kept slipping away, the man’s name… what had it been? He gritted his teeth, focusing harder, but the more he focused the more it seemed to slip, like oil on water.
-He sighed and rose from his pallet, intending to write down the dream when he saw something that completely drove it from his mind. A massive, black winged silhouette was before him, standing just beyond the curtained entrance to his quarters. He reached slowly for the blessed dagger on his side table.
-At the first hint of movement the creature shifted suddenly, lightning quick and silent as a whisper it lashed out, sending a ripple through the air and causing him to stumble back and fall. The creature did the same, its heavy body tearing through the curtain and landing with a loud thud on the cold stone floor. The sound of heavy footfalls sounded as a Sentinel came running, causing him to cringe slightly. Again the beast mimicked him, its bulk shivering in a manner barely perceptible to the eye.
-The Sentinel reached his doorway and stopped dead. He raised his spear, two-foot, serrated steel head gleaming wickedly, and lunged at the creature with a yell. Impaling it through the heart. Immediately Scion felt a searing pain in his chest. The creature howled and vanished, its tortured cry echoing his own yell of pain.
-The last thing he saw was the elderly abbot hurrying through the door and telling the Sentinel to return to his post. Then the world went black, and he recalled nothing further beyond the dulled feeling of pain as though left him to unconsciousness.
-He awoke to the quiet humming of the medical automatons and the blaring white of the ceiling above him. He sat up, a cloud of inactive nano-bots rose up around him as they fell from where they had been lying, dormant, on his body. He held his breath, waiting for the cloud to settle. When it did, he got off the bed and pulled on a set of brown cloth robes.
-Normally The Religious Order chose to remain in poverty for the sake of less distraction from the desires of the Seven Stars. But they cut no corners when it came to medical situations. No medicine was too experimental or too controversial to be tried at least once.
-He walked out of the hospital room into the stone hall beyond. They gray rock cleaner than most linoleum floors. He turned right and walked briskly to the abbot’s offices. Once there he made sure he was standing correctly and knocked precisely three times at the exact center of the door.
-“Enter.” Came the old abbot’s, still strong, voice from within. Scion turned the knob and went in. The abbot’s office was, as always, pristine. The mahogany desk polished to a glasslike sheen and bookshelves arranged neatly on the back wall. There was a window directly behind the abbot’s head with a direct view over the gardens on the lower level.
-All of this combined to create an air of serene professionalism. An air that the abbot emulated perfectly, his wrinkles and bald head contriving to make him seem more venerable as well as wise.
-The abbot cleared his throat and said, “Sit down, Scion.”
-Scion sat in the proffered straight backed, wooden, chair.
-The abbot leaned forward, his fingers pressed together to form a steeple, and said, “Well Scion, I can guess why you came.”
-Scion cleared throat nervously, “Yes, sir.”
-The abbot stood and looked out the window, his hands clasped behind his back, “You want to know what that creature was.”
-“Yes, sir.” Scion said again.
-The abbot turned and looked Scion straight in the eyes, “But you already know, don’t you?”
-Scion looked down and nodded shamefully.
-The abbot sighed and said, “That was a familiar, Scion. It is a result of witchcraft or black magic. Why do you have a familiar?”
-Scion shook his head and said, truthfully, “I don’t know, sir.”
-“Don’t you?”
-Scion opened his mouth and closed it, not knowing how to respond, then a memory came to him like the world crashing around his ears, “Oh… no…”
-“Yes, Scion. Your mother was a witch, and she gave you a familiar before you were born. So far we have been able to keep it away, but our defenses now seem to be failing. That Sentinel nearly killed you, but luckily he missed the heart.”
-Scion gulped, “What happens now, sir?”
-The abbot’s piercing stare bored into him, “You have two options. One, you die and rid the world of this black magic forever. Or two, you run and try to find a way to get rid of it some other way.”
-Talan sighed; Scion had backed into a corner of his mind. His turn was now. He had known this would be a bad day. Why he had to be sealed in a weak little priestling like this…

Short Story (Possible Continuation)-Eternal

-Death…

-It permeates our world, a constant reminder of our impermanence upon this Earth. At least… it is for most people.

-He turned away from the cliff, drawing his coat about him against the cold wind.

-He is immortal. And sometimes… well just say he wishes he wasn’t. He sighs and walks away, the sun setting behind him over the autumn trees in the valley below.

-He looks over his shoulder at the grave he had been standing by. ‘Well,’ he thinks ruefully, ‘I shouldn’t complain. After all, I asked for this.’ He turns away grimly and walks down the path, his last tie to his old life, gone.

-He reaches the ledge overlooking the wreckage of what had been his birthplace. ‘All my fault, all for my own damned desire to live forever. My family, dead. My friends, dead. My heart… well, that’s dead too now.’

-‘I doubt now that one ever beat in my chest, how else could I have done this?’ He jumps over the small cliff and begins to walk toward the dead city. He walks past the wreckage of the church that once had told him that that was were his soul would be saved.

-It had been the first to burn. For what use could a church be for one without a soul? None at all. His eyes flash red in the light of the sun. ‘My flesh may be clean, but my existence is forever stained with blood.’

100 years later

-He watches as a cart rumbles past, wondering how these people still lived while death surrounds them. He shudders in pain as he feels his flesh begin to crawl and change. He focuses and stops the transformation, ‘I may be without heart or soul,’ he thinks grimly, ‘but human form, at least, I will keep. A beast in the flesh of man.’

-The, probably not so, innocent merchant disappears around a corner and he steps out onto the path and heads in the opposite direction. He soon arrives at his destination, slipping into the shadows of the wall as a guard passes above. When the guard is gone he quickly scales the wall and is soon at the top.

-He crouches in an alcove as a second guard passes, then flips over the other side and snags a ledge with practiced ease, making less noise than a breath of wind. He then braces himself and drops the fifty feet to the stone flagstones behind a tavern, his bones swiftly mending and he is soon ready once again.

-He leaps onto a roof and quickly begins to make his way to the citadel at the center of the city. He grins behind his mask. ‘Of all the occupations I have had,’ he chuckles inwardly, ‘being an assassin is by far the most fun.’

What's Going on Here.

I am posting stories I write. Some of which I may or may not follow up on. They can be fanfiction or stories with characters, plot(s) and settings all my own.

Universal Foreword

What I write here is written for entertainment. Whether or not it entertains you is not my decision, though hopefully it does, as that's the whole point of this.