Chapter 4

The torch bearer hits him in the face with the fire and he steps backwards. Two more men plunge their spears into his body, and he screams in pain. Blind and bleeding he pulls the spears him his chest and leaps back towards the woods.

“Run you beast! You are no match for us!” The murderer screams from behind his guards. Roderick still cannot see but his hearing is attuned to the mans breathing. He throws one of the spears and the murderer is impaled through his leg and is pinned to the ground. He screams in pain and orders his men to remove it. By now his eyesight has returned and he dodges an incoming spear that was thrown. He leaps from where he is standing and lands on the man who threw it. Tearing into his neck he drinks the sweet bloody nectar, and his wounds begin to close. His eyes shine bright, and he loses himself in feeding. The murderer finally is freed from the spear, and he is limping away. Roderick stands tall and opens his hands. His nails grow sharply and as the remaining two men charge him he easily tears them apart with his hands. He dashes forward and reaches the coward in mere moments. Plunging his clawed hand into his lower back he shatters his spine and the man falls to the ground. Staring up at him with fear in his eyes he tries to beg for his life.

“I’ll give you anything you want. Please don’t kill me! You can have any girl from the village, age doesn’t matter!” He pleads. Roderick leans down to meet him eye to eye and grins. His sharp teeth are dripping blood from his fallen friends.

“All I want is your life gone, any who can harm a child deserve to be wiped from this world.” Roderick says as he devours him. This time though something strange happens. His mind is flooded with the man’s memories. He gets lost in them as he watches as a ghostly spectator in the man’s memories. Suddenly intense pain brings him back to the real world to see he has been lit on fire. He turns to end the person who dared attack him only to see a young boy. There are dozens of dead around them, he has slaughtered nearly all the village. Standing there shaking with fear the young boy has mustered all the courage he can bear.

“Leave here monster! I won’t let you kill my family!” He yells. Roderick looks down and sees himself covered in blood and on fire. He truly is a monster now and as his flesh burns, he dashes from the boy scared that he cannot even control his own body. He reaches the river and dives in to extinguish the flames. The cold hurts like hell as his burned flesh begins to heal. As he floats underwater, he contemplates drowning himself. I will not live by massacring others, this is no life I wanted. He thinks. Just as he decides to follow through with his suicide above him the winged creature flies overhead. He swims to shore and begins to follow it through the forest as dawn begins to break. The creature dives into a cave in the mountains and Roderick follows it inside.

“At long last my prodigal son has found me. Tell me, how did that human blood taste? I saw what you did to that village.” A voice from the darkness says to him. Roderick activates his night vision and finds this mysterious creature standing in the back of the cave. It is tall and hairless with eyes that match his own except they are an orange color.

“What have you done to me? It was you that night, wasn’t it?” Roderick asks.

“I watched you fight Mai-coh and defeat it. That should have been impossible but somehow you won. I couldn’t let such an interesting specimen who killed my hated enemy just choke on his own blood and die. Besides it wasn’t a guarantee you would actually transform into an Immortal. The process has never worked before, you are the only one I have ever made.” He replies.

“Come out of the darkness and meet me eye to eye.” Roderic demands. A laugh begins to crawl its way from the creature’s mouth as he steps forward. His wings stretch out and his teeth are sharp.

“I am your Maker, and you will show me respect! Before that terrible sunrise comes listen to what I have to say. You are now Endless, you will never age. Any wound will be healed, and your only enemy will be the sun itself.” The Maker says.

“What am I?” Roderick asks.

“I deem you a Vampyr, first son to the Great and powerful Sariel. Forever changed with a thirst for blood that is unquenchable. You are now the Apex predator of this planet! Rejoice for this is a blessing that I have bestowed upon you! Feasting on human blood has completed the process of transformation. You fed on animals for years but now you are truly like me. Your powers will increase the more humans you devour.” The Maker replies. Roderick looks back over his shoulder to see the sun begin to rise.

“I will never again see her because of you. I fought off the thirst for human blood for years and tonight I gave in. She would be ashamed of me!” Roderick screams as his eyes begin to glow. His Maker laughs at his torment and then dashes towards him with blinding speed. He stands in front of his new son and bends down to look him in his eyes.

“Your torment is just getting started, everyone you will ever know will fall to time except you. I have walked this world since the beginning and the ONLY delight I have is watching you mortals destroy each other.” The Maker says with a smile. Roderick wraps his arms around him.

and leaps out of the cave.