Lying in the setting sun the man once again cursed his predicament. He was
sheltered amongst some rocks but he knew this safety wouldn't last. Turning
his head he winced as the movement opened up the wound on his neck once more
and fresh blood ran down to dry with more of its kind on his chest. Looking
back on his trail he could see the blood trail leading to his new position.
It had taken most of the day to crawl here and he was certain he could go
little further. As the sun set he knew they would be coming for him again
and this time there was little he could do to defend himself. One hand
propped himself up against the rock while the other held the remains of his
shirt in an effort to stop the blood flowing out of his body from a number
of wounds. On the ground sat a pistol and the man wasn't certain whether he
would use it against the enemy or himself when the time came.
As battles go it wasn't supposed to be such a big deal. The natives were
poorly armed and no real match for their training and armaments. The caches
of jewels and treasures were strange in their location but supposed to be
poorly guarded. The man and his men were going to stage a quick raid across
the border and capture a few prizes for their return to England the next
month. Garrison duty is boring at the best of times so all the lads leapt at
the chance to make a bit of extra money on the side. They had struck their
colours off their uniforms and attacked at sunset like the manuals claim is
the best time. All was well until they had packed up and were ready to
leave. Out of the night they had struck. Faster than lightning and twice as
deadly. Some looked like wolves but had teeth and claw where no wolf had
them before. Some were unidentifiable except from the dreams of a troubled
youth. All were covered in blood before the screaming stopped and all were
standing alone from the men who had fallen seconds before. The man had lain
on the ground with his life's blood pouring from him onto the hard earth. As
he struggled to stand a boot had lashed out into his wounded side. Moaning
in agony he must have lost consciousness as when he next opened his eyes the
dawn was breaking and their attackers were leaving with a curse. Not wanting
to be there when they returned he had struggled to make some distance from
the site of an ambush. An ambush for whom the man is no longer sure but one
thing was certain, it was not finished yet.
They stood overlooking the valley. The leader was tall and graceful with a
sense of leadership not common in one as youthful as he appeared. On closer
examination he was deathly pale and his blue eyes contained more than their
share of intelligence. On his side sat two Dire wolves. They growled at any
person who looked their way but more frightening was their eyes. They were
as piercing as their master's and only slightly less intelligent. Behind them
stood a number of men at arms. They all wore the same uniform with the same
insignia, this insignia was of a badger.
"Was anything taken?" Asked the leader with a snarl. Quickly to his side
came his majordomo.
"Nothing liege, they were killed before much was disturbed. How they came to
know of this Haven we are uncertain but the traitor will be captured soon."
Said the Majordomo.
"Good and I want to deal with them personally. Trespassers on my land will
not be tolerated. An example had to be made and a repetition will not be
tolerated. Make sure all are accounted for and bring the survivors to me at
once." Continued the leader.
The Majordomo nodded and quickly gave the orders. At the leader's side the
wolves growled and paced forward on their leashes. They had smelled the
blood of the man who had escaped and were eager for more. The leader nodded
and released the wolves from their collars. They bounded forward in
eagerness and soon were covering the ground the man had crawled across hours
earlier. In minutes they covered the distance that had taken him hours. On their
heels were the leader and his men at arms. They found him lying on the rocks.
His head raised slowly and the survivor grinned as he saw death approaching.
He staggered onto his own two unsteady feet and raised the pistol. The shot
from the pistol took the first wolf in the head and it fell with an all too
human scream. The second smelled the blood of its mate and fell on the man
as he struggled to draw his sword. Both fell to the ground as the man's
strength was all too short of that needed to support himself and the wolf.
His sword struck at the wolf's back as its jaws ripped into his chest. With a
scream of rage he kicked at the wolf and sent it rolling off him. With a
rage borne of an all too soon demise he leapt after the wolf and plunged his
sword into its open belly. The animal screamed as it felt the sword pierce
its heart and the light in its eyes soon dimmed. The man panted as he rolled
off the wolf. His energy was spent and his heart was beating it last. With a
chuckle he spat onto the ground and looked up at the leader as he approached
the place soon to be his grave. The leader knelt next to the soldier and
whispered to him.
"Excuse me for a minute young man. I apologise for the intrusion but really
it should be you who should make the apologies. This is my land and you are
uninvited upon it. Your companions have paid the price and for what you have
done you too owe me a boon," said the leader as he smiled at the fallen man.
"A warrior like yourself is wasted on the sun lit lands. I think we'll make
a use of you until your debt to me is paid."
The fallen soldier's eyes dimmed as he felt his heart slow. His last
sensation was of a warm liquid being poured down his throat and the feeling
that he should have used the pistol on himself after all.
Lord Tyger had the body of the man taken to his mansion nearby. He still
lived but in a coma that would last for days. The blood given to him was
Tyger's own but not enough to raise the man from the grave yet. It was all
too soon for that and some changes had to be undertaken first before that day
arrived. The body was taken up stairs to the Laboratory and Tyger made plans
for his new creature's awakening. He had prepared for this event for long
years now and all that was lacking before was a suitable subject for the
metamorphoses. After preparing for the event Tyger walked to his laboratory.
The change had to occur as quickly as possible while the body remember the
death it had narrowly avoided. The mind must have fresh upon its canvas the
moment of death for it to cope with what was about to befall it.
As he walked
down the corridor of his pervious attempts. Every few steps took him past a
number of unlit rooms behind a sheet of glass. To his more than human eyes
the space within each one was bright as the day he hadn't seen for more than
a century. Inside each one was an experiment flawed,
a creature that lived only because of his will.
One room had a hulk of a man
huddled into the corner. It sat rending its own face in time with it to
regenerate as soon as its claws had passed. For decades now it had tried to
escape what it was and for decades it would try anew each night. In another
sat a figure that was continually changing form. Its appearance changed
with every heart beat it no longer has. Some were animal and some were
people. All that was current with the forms was the agonised scream it made
as each form dissolved into something new. It no longer remember what it
once was and it all too readily remembered what it had lost.
Tyger walked
past them all as he neared the Laboratory. It pays to be reminded of your
failures he thought. One must always try harder than before and nothing is
as sobering as what had been your vanity in times past.
Inside the Laboratory a number of Kindred were chained to the wall with the
glistening organic ropes of a creature that should have been long dead.
They were barely conscious as their Vitae was drawn forth through intestinal
ropes of flesh. All of these ropes joined to a creature sitting on a table
next to the body of the fallen soldier. This new creature had no arms, legs
or a neck. It was a torso with the rudiments of a head. It sat with the
Vitae of a number of Kindred pumping into it and slowly swelled with its
cargo. Tyger caressed its swelling belly as he reached the table. Walking
to the far wall he lifted up a steel cage. Inside this cage was a hissing
badger who tried to reach up and savage the fingers of its soon to be murderer.
Tyger looked at the body below him and started the final preparations. He
chanted in a tongue that was cursed to all who learnt it. Shadows mocked his
movements as they came under the control of forces only known as 'other.'
The room chilled as powers were bought into focus upon the fallen soldier.
As all was ready Tyger of the Tzimisce reached across and patted the belly
of his creature. The flesh on its stomach parted with little effort and a
tube of the corpus stretched across to the face of the soldier. The blood
stolen from others slowly poured into his mouth as the creature released
what it had stored.
Tyger walked to the other side of the body and made an
incision with his claws against its inner thigh. The last of the man's own
blood dripped out and Tyger waited for what he could sense as Kindred Vitae
to start to escape before resealing the wound. As the storage creature had
nearly finished its duty Tyger reached up and allowed the creature to bite
into his wrist. His own Vitae was sucked by the creature and in turn given
to the body below. Tyger created another Childe and as always it carried his
own blood as well within its veins as a creator is as much a parent as the
donator of a sperm or an egg. With that done all that remain was one final
donation. Tyger reached to the cage and removed the badger. It was strangely
quiet now as if resigned to its fate in the Rite. Tyger kissed the animal on
its nose and it whimpered at him as he tore open its neck and poured its
life into his storage creature. The badger turned to him and its eyes
forgave him as they dimmed. All must give in to the stronger. That is the
way of the world and that was the way the Sabbat will teach the others or
they will fall.
All was done and Tyger was faint with the loss of Vitae and
the energy needed to focus the powers upon this Rite. All was done. All that
remained was to wait for the body below to be reborn as a new man. His man
and his creation. This time it would work and this time it wouldn't die with
his name on its lips. Tyger sat down and analysed the processes happening in
front of him.
The man awoke after his final battle. He remember the pale lord and then
darkness. Now he was awake but was still a prisoner in his own body. He
could feel nothing but was perfectly aware. After his first thoughts there
came another, he wasn't alone. Reaching into himself he felt the presence of
at least four others. One was gibbering at him and this one felt the
strongest. An other was trying to get him to accept the changes as normal.
This one was a presence that was always speaking in a new voice as if it was
part of many and not just one. Another was pure darkness and whispered of
the joys of submission. One was growling with anger at is new home and it
felt more part of the animal kingdom then human. Another was bright with
creativity and it was joyed to be part of another but full of sorrow at no
longer being free. The solider reeled in his mind at this madness and soon
he found the gibbering one to be making the most sense. It felt comfortable
to hear her words and soon he believed them. As he listened to her he
found more and more to make sense. As he believed the other voices dimmed as
they became to be part of him rather then separate. Soon there was only him
and him alone as her voice joined the others deep within him. All was silent
then the solider saw the other. It sat staring at him with strength in its
gaze. It was black and white and proud was its bearing. It looked at him and
spoke in a deep voice full of wisdom.
"We are together but not as one. To survive we shall agree or all we be lost
to us. We shall live and through you I shall live again. Do you agree to
this of your own free will or does it end here and now?" Asked the Badger.
The fallen soldier looked at the creature and smiled. Inside of him he could
feel the gibbering woman nod her agreement and he nodded also to please her.
The Badger smiled at him and all faded into darkness once more.
Tyger smiled as he watched his new lieutenant being born. Time passed, night
became day then night again. Tyger returned to the Laboratory and found his
new soldier waiting for him. The soldier was drinking out of a mug and he
smiled as the Lord Tyger Tzimisce arrived.
"So, where do you hide the rest of the coffee in this place?" Asked the newborn Mr Badger.
