Chapter 3: The Day Of The Vampire

As time went on, Martos became lonelier. He began thinking of finding a mate, but this was no easy task. His group had eight women, and ten men without him, and the women were already married to the other men, and watching the happy couples, made him think about a wife even harder. After three months, his luck changed. He was in one of the biggest cities that had over eight thousand citizens. He was at the bazaar, with two other of his group, buying supplies and animal fodder for the upcoming winter. It was already afternoon when they decided to go back, and then it was that he saw her. In front of the Christian church stood the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, gathering charity for the sick and poor. She had tall slender figure, long smooth black hair, and a face that looked like it was carved by angels. That was love at first sight. He told his companions to leave without him and walked towards her, but first approached a man near her and asked him about her. He told him that her father is a friend of his and he knows her very well.

- Her name is Mary, the daughter of the town's Christian priest. Her father was a merchant, trading with the coastal cities, and there he met a man from Judea, that told him about this new religion. When he returned, he began to spread this new faith, and two months ago, built the church you see before you.

Martos thanked the man and approached the girl. He introduced himself as a trader from a nearby town, and began a conversation about her work, and jumping from one topic to another, they ended up talking for hours. During this time romance slowly developed, as it seemed Cupid struck more than one heart that day. As the months passed, their love became unbreakable. Martos even met her father, who gave him his blessing and the permission to marry his daughter.

Three months after they met, Martos decided he could no longer hide what he was from his loved one. So, one day he told her everything. She told him that this changed nothing, and that she still loved him. "My love for you is eternal." She said to him. He hugged her and told her that he had already spoken to her father, and if she wants to, they can get married in three days. She gladly said yes and they got married in three days time. After the wedding, he took her to his home, where the other gladly accepted her as a member of their family. That same night, in a great ceremony, Martos took a lavishly decorated golden cup and dagger, cut on his hand, and filling the cup gave her to drink it as a symbol of their eternal love between them. After her transformation things went on unchanged. Three weeks later, Mary told him she was pregnant. This was probably the happiest day of his life. Vampire children grow very fast, and in three months Mary gave birth to their son, Zachary.

They lived peacefully, watching their son grow, fully content in their isolation from the mortals. But, fate had to interfere in this idyllic scene and shatter it. As I said, Kalistos and fourteen other vampires went to live to the east.

Over the years, Martos rarely contacted them trough the Link, respecting their wish for autonomy. This went on until one night the entire group was awoken by the terrible screams they heard in their heads, and they knew that something had happened to the others. They clearly heard the cries of frightened vampires and felt their pain and suffering. Martos knew the location of the others, and he immediately headed there. They had settled in a small canyon that was easy to defend, but was also difficult to escape from if they got attacked. He saw the clouds of smoke rising and a feeling of dread overwhelmed him. But nothing could prepare him for the horror he saw when he landed. All vampires were either on the ground, each with over a dozen spears in them, or impaled on several spikes in the air, all of them hacked and butchered. All of them were dead. He was wondering, why?

He then felt that Kalistos is alive. He went to the mangled body that had over fifteen spears in it, pinning him to the ground. Martos pulled them out, and when Kalistos opened his eyes he asked in a broken voice

- Old friend, who did this?

- Who butchered your group?

- Welcome my Lord. It's been a while. I don't know who they were. All I know is... they were human. They attacked without warning... totally unprovoked. We fed of animals. The last man... we attacked... was thirty years ago... and there he is... dead three feet from me. We were surprised... we weren't ready. Only after the fourth fell... did we began to fight back. Now, leave me... my wounds are to grave... I will not make it.

My Lord... please... avenge us... we didn't deserve this.

- Don't worry old friend. This atrocity will be avenged. I will come with others to burry you with honour.

As Martos walked on, Kalistos made one last effort, raised his head and said to Martos

- My Lord, I heard the humans talk. They know... about your group. I don't know... how. They... they have... another squad that... should attack your group. And he died as he spoke the last word.

- What! I must leave at once. Maybe I will go back to prevent another tragedy. But several minutes later he realised he was too late.

The screams that began to echo trough his head were eerily familiar. He shouted to them "Fight back! Fight back!" but it was too late. When he got back home, the same sight welcomed him. The houses were burning, and everybody was dead, speared to the ground. And then the final drop that overfilled him. His wife and son pinned to the ground with over thirty spears. The two dead humans beside them showed that he tried to protect his mother, but was probably overwhelmed. By then, the pain became too much and he let loose a horrible shriek, so loud and horrible, that most of the animals in the mountain fled with fear. He then stood up, burning with anger. His eyes were burning with rage. He remembered all he had learned in life, and he decided to avenge the dead here or join them trying. The people around the mountain were shocked when the distant echo of a horrible shriek came to them. Shortly after that, they saw scores of animals mindlessly run away from the mountain, as if afraid of something horrible. Martos went searching for the men that did this. He found their camp in a valley not too far away, and by the size of it, it looked there were around three hundred people. He landed nearby and went to the camp.

Soon, the mostly sleeping men were awoken by a horrible sound, a sound of a man killed in a most brutal way. When they gathered to the centre of the camp, they saw Martos, with two heads that looked like they were forcefully torn of their bodies. He threw them the heads and shouted

- I have come to avenge my friends and family. You will all die here today and your blood will flow down this mountain as a river.

Then, shouting, he ran at them, full of anger and two beastly paws instead of hands. With these paws he began to kill the still confused and frightened humans. He killed them in all sorts of ways: tearing off their heads, their arms, legs, even slashing their chest open. There was even one, that the force of the impact was so great, that he split the man in half, vertically. By the time the commander said "Kill him!" he had killed over sixty. But even though they tried to obey, they soon found out how futile their attempts were. When someone managed to swing a weapon at him, he would turn into mist, and the weapon would pass right him, and as soon as it did, a massive paw would crush the man's skull, or run trough his heart. Martos remained true to his word. Human blood flowed like a river down the mountain, and there were corpses all around him. At the end of the day, only Martos and five men were left standing, but they seemed more inclined on fleeing than fighting. Tired of fighting and killing, Martos took a rope and tied them up, so they could not escape. After that, he grabbed one of them by the neck and lifting him from the ground, he asked