1 Freedom?

"Each of you came today to see history made real right before your eyes. For today each of you are equally privileged to bear witness to the fate of Senani and Maximus in this grand arena.

You know them, you love them, and today only one will leave this arena as Grand Champion.

Let the carnage begin." Echoed the announcers voice across the vast arena.

Senani considered his options as he examined his opponent from across the arena. Today he faced Maximus, a giant of an Orc at 230 cm (7.5 feet) and 145 kgs. (320 lbs.) of pure muscle. Orcs look a lot like humans only bigger, with tusks protruding out of the sides of their mouths and varying shades of green skin. Maximus stood at the ready in a full suite of plate mail polished to a mirror finish. He was truly a magnificent sight to behold, at least for those that were not blinded by the light reflecting off his armor.

Senani on the other hand was a rather typical human that stood a mere 171 cm (5.6 feet) and weighed 68 kg. (150 lb.). His black boiled leather armor somehow seemed inadequate when compared to the shining monstrosity across the arena.

With his analysis complete, Senani quickly sprinted toward the right side of the arena. This would put the sun in Maximus eyes rather than his own and would diminish the effect his polish would have. Maximus realized his goal instantly and began to charge and he quickly closed the distance and made the first strike at Senani's chest. Senani nimbly dove to the left side narrowly dodging the strike. As he dodged, he followed up with a dagger thrust to Maximus's arm pit.

The cheers of the crowd permeated the arena as the duo clashed.

Maximus had not expected the attack, and yet his reflexes had been honed over decades of combat. He released the handle of his 200 cm (6.5 feet) great axe Soul Shatter with his right hand and punched Senani cleanly in the face. His size was not the only thing that gained him the status of Grand Champion of the Arena. Maximus was an extremely fast and rather agile orc.

The blow knocked Senani backwards, and many in the audience expected his neck to be broken and the battle to be over. Yet with lightning speed, Senani began to throw his knives at the eye slits in Maximus helmet. Senani slammed into the ground with a sickening thud as one of the knives hit its mark and sunk deep into Maximus right eye.

Maximus reeled in pain. Yet he did not dare to pull out the knife out of fear that he would bleed to death.

Senani slowly began to get up. The pain evident in his lagging movements.

Maximus charged at Senani faster than before. His adrenaline and newfound hatred propelling him at speeds never seen before by this giant.

Senani dove and rolled to the left side. Quickly regaining his footing and diving at Maximus's back. Both daggers aimed at the unprotected area at the base of Maximus's neck between his helmet and plate mail. Assassinations were Senani's specialty. Both daggers cleanly hit their marks and cut through Maximus upper spine like butter.

Maximus fell to the ground, his head slamming into the ground from the weight of his body, forcing the throwing knife further through his eye socket and into his brain.

The Arena grew deathly quiet. Maximus had been deemed unbeatable for years. Now he lay unmoving in the sand.

The arena masters voice rose over the silence that had permeated the arena, growing ever louder as his words echoed across the battlefield.

"Your years training in assassination have not failed you. Rise Grand Champion Senani and claim your rewards. Maximus prepared well for this event. I believe you will be rather happy with the prize he has placed in your care. When you agreed to this battle you gained your freedom. Now you also have claim to all that was Maximus's. Arise Senani, you are now an extremely wealthy man."

As the announcer finished, extremely pale creatures with red eyes moved into the arena. As the creatures entered darkness surrounded them. As the creatures exited the body of Maximus was no longer present and the darkness once again dissipated from the arena.

Much to Senani's confusion, he was escorted in the same direction the darkness had entered from soon after the creatures exited. This confused Senani as normally the victor would return to his cell. Senani had forgotten he was now a free man. Perhaps they were taking him this direction to bring him out to the city or to give him his rewards. This was the only possible explanation Senani could come up with.

As he contemplated, he continued down the hallway. Eventually he was stopped at a door emanating a bright purple glow. The glow felt rather ominous to Senani. It felt otherworldly and made the hair on the back of his neck tingle. As the door opened, a hand swung out and knocked Senani unconscious before he could even register the movement.

"Dagnabbit Cato. You hit him too hard. Look at all that blood. You will be lucky if you didn't kill him. You better pray you didn't. If you did, Patricia will kill you." Shouted Alexus.

"He's alive, you can hear his heartbeat as easily as I can. Though, I guess it is getting fainter… Bring him to the tome. If it doesn't react, it won't matter if I killed him." Replied Cato.

"The tome can't work if he's dead. At least I don't think it can... It isn't like its ever worked before in the first place..." Replied Alexus.

Cato easily picked up Senani and moved him to the pedestal in the center of the room. As Senani was lifted over to the tome, his blood flowed freely, hitting the cover in puddles.

The tome instantly absorbed the blood. Drop after drop, puddle after puddle were quickly absorbed into the book. Seeing this Cato and Alexus both began to smile. It had been centuries since the tome had fed. Longer still since the tome had chosen a master. They dared not even dream of this possibility, feeding was enough to earn Cato a great reward.

Senani dimly began to regain a semblance of consciousness. He could feel his life seeping away, though he could not tell where it was going. As quickly as he realized this, the world once again went black for Senani.

Time ceased to exist. Senani knew he was no longer alive; he could feel absolutely nothing. Yet he also knew he wasn't yet fully dead. He was stuck in a void somewhere in between.

Cato laid Senani's body on the floor in front of the pedestal. He hoped that today, the Coven would gain a new Knight. That would be the icing on the cake for his rewards. Alexus would be his witness. The tome accepted the blood, if Senani became a Knight after the bloodletting, Cato could finally become a noble. This would be his day.

As Cato considered his rewards, the shriveled leather tome began to absorb the purple glow encompassing the room into the utter darkness within its center. This darkness could not be seen as much as it was felt within the very soul of those gazing upon its unnerving cover. Cato and Alexus both were visibly shaken as the light shot from the tome and into the body of Senani. Such an event had never been documented in the eons the tome had been in their family. What could it mean?

Senani began to feel his body return to him, though it felt rather foreign. Then again, he had suffered a rather hard blow to the head. He felt it could just be a concussive state he was feeling, or the entire thing could have been a dream. In his disoriented state, Senani began to slowly open his eyes and much to the amazement of those present, stand.

Alexus and Cato bounded out of the room while telepathically contacting Patricia. They had no clue what was happening, nor did they know how to proceed, and as Patricia was their leader, they would have to defer to her wisdom.

Senani moved around the blackened marble pedestal and began to examine the tome. He gently placed his hand on the cover, and the clasp that had been locked for all these past eons loudly fell to the floor. The cover of the book flew open, and a bright purple light left the book and entered Senani's mind. An intense pain unlike anything he had ever felt entered his brain. Through the pain he began to hear a voice. "You will do nicely human. I will lend you a bit of my power until you learn to master my arts. See the necromancer, Patricia. Tell her Azmodius lives again. She will know what to do with you." Senani blacked out again and crumpled on the ground.

Soon Cato and Alexus reentered the room escorting Patricia and a newly raised Maximus over to Senani. Seeing the clasp on the tome open, Patricia immediately sprinted over to Senani. She touched his face and released a green glow.

Senani slowly opened his eyes and looked around. To begin with he did not recognize anyone around him. As his eyes began to focus, he could see his throwing knife still sticking out of Maximus's eye socket.

"How? What? Who are you people?" quizzed Senani.

As the elder, Patricia took the liberty of replying. "I believe you know Maximus. He was quickly raised to reduce the amount of knowledge he would lose in death. I am Patricia, grand necromancer of The Coven. These two are Cato and Alexus. They are unimportant to you currently. What is important is that the clasp opened on the tome. Did it speak to you?"

"Patricia huh? A voice said to tell you Azmodius lives again." Replied Senani. As soon as he finished, a bright red glow left the body of Maximus and entered Senani. It increased in brightness until it rivaled that of the sun. When it dissipated, all the flesh vanished from the body of Maximus. All that remained was a skeleton with an icy blue glow where his eyes had been. His tusks now looked even more menacing protruding from an empty skull. The throwing knife had fallen to the ground. It and all of Maximus's armor and weapons had been blackened from the intense heat from the light.

Soul Shatter glowed with an otherworldly red light. Patricia, Alexus, and Cato gasped in surprise. Patricia was the first to regain her composure. "Maximus has become a true Death Knight. The powers he possessed in life, are but pale imitations of his possibilities now. Something is not quite right though. All the teachings say that only the Ancient Anomalies could create Death Knights, and once created, they would bear the holy symbol of the Anomaly that created them. Maximus bears no Anomaly icon. Yet the aura flowing from his bones is unmistakable. He is a Death Knight."

Patricia then looked over to Senani. He had been all but forgotten with the excitement of the Death Knights creation. To everyone's surprise, his muscling appeared thicker, and his skin now had a slight green tinge to it. Patricia, being the only one to understand the significance to this, knelt before Senani and exclaimed. "Senani has gained the absorption ability from the tome. Alexus and Cato you imbeciles, bow before the chosen one. If he can fully awaken the abilities of the tome, he will be King of the Coven, and we will reach heights of power you have never even imagined.

No longer will we be banished by the other Covens of vampires."

(Vampires come in all shapes and sizes and are a pale image of the species they had been in life. They are undead creatures that live off the blood of living species. They drink blood through the fangs that grow into their mouths when they achieve a state of undeath. If a living creature is fully drained of blood, they can be fed a vampire's blood for the formerly living creature to become a vampiric member of the Coven. Blood can permanently increase a vampire's power; the blood of different species gives different increases to a vampire's power. Members of a Coven can communicate telepathically to all members of their coven.)